American Airlines has announced that they will be following in Delta’s footsteps by offering free Main Cabin Meals on transcontinental flights between New York (JFK) and Los Angeles and San Francisco. Whether they really want to offer this or not, they feel compelled enough to do so in order to compete on this highly coveted route.

Details from American Airlines:

American Airlines is making select coast-to-coast flights even better by adding free meals in the Main Cabin, giving customers one more reason to choose the airline’s industry-leading Airbus A321T trans-continental service.

The Main Cabin meals will be available on flights in both directions between Los Angeles and New York , and between San Francisco and New York . Depending on the time of day, customers will be offered a continental breakfast or a boxed meal with a sandwich wrap, kettle chips and dessert. The menu also includes a vegetarian option and a fruit and cheese plate. The new meal service begins May 1 .

The meals will be served on American’s one-of-a-kind A321T fleet. American is the only airline with this dedicated fleet featuring a true international First Class experience on a trans-continental route, with fully lie-flat seats in both First and Business Class.

Bottom Line

This is really a great perk for American flyers, but when you look at the product offering it’s nearly identical from Delta. American will not only offer a sandwich wrap, they will also offer a choice of a vegetarian option as well as a fruit and cheese plate, which Delta currently offers.

If anything its amusing that American’ s new transcon meal options will be identical to what Delta is going to be offering. Perhaps they could even share the same caterer?

Feel free to share your thoughts below on American’s new Transcon meals.