It’s been a busy eight months for American Airlines, whose partnership with Qantas has changed the way we connect to the United States forever. delicious. spoke to Simon Dodd, AA’s general manager for Australia and New Zealand, about this exciting time for the company.

Having partnered with Qantas, what have the past eight months been like for American Airlines in Australia?

Watching the state-of-the-art, flagship Boeing 777-300ER aircraft perform a flyover of Sydney Harbour in November last year was a career highlight for me, and a very proud moment for American Airlines. The flyover signalled our commitment to the Australian market, as part of the carriers expanded partnership with Qantas, which was announced earlier last year.

We are delighted to be offering our service to Australian travellers and look forward to a long standing partnership with Qantas in Australia.

Has American Airlines had to make any changes to meet Australian travellers’ expecations?

Yes. American Airlines is making a US$3 billion investment in our onboard products and airport facilities by upgrading our cabins, offering more inflight entertainment options, refreshing our Admirals Club lounges worldwide and upgrading our food and beverage options.

For Australian travellers specifically, American Airlines has altered the menu to focus on local, fresh, seasonal produce across all cabins. These changes centered around choice, customisation and quality ingredients. Our menus were designed to give passengers a plethora of choice from their journey’s start to finish. Providing a true restaurant-style experience allows passengers to customise their dining. Seasonality is key, incorporating the highest-quality, locally-sourced products and ingredients ensures we provide a better in-flight service.

To cater for regular flyers, the main cabin menus rotate every six months.

What do you serve in business class? Are there any Australian offerings?

For Australian customers flying the route, our menu planning team has worked closely with our joint business partners, Qantas, and our design chefs to create a menu of food and wine that appeals to our new mates across all cabins. Feedback from travellers has been positive. The sophistication of the Australian food scene has positively influenced menu design.

For first class, we’re serving native Australian ingredients including Tasmanian salmon, New South Wales riverine beef, quandong jam and lemon myrtle.

In the main cabin, we’ve increased the portion size by 50 per cent, and included a flavour-infused dinner roll and upscale dessert. Aligning with Qantas, we are now serving a mid-flight ice-cream treat, which has been extremely popular among Australian travellers.

Australian wines including d’Arenberg ‘The Dead Arm’ Shiraz from McLaren Vale and John Duval Plexus Marsanne Rousanne Viognier from the Barossa are also now being served in first class. Robert Oatley Signature Series Cabernet Sauvginon from Margaret River and Leeuwin Estate Siblings Sauvignon Blanc Semillon, also from Margaret River, are now being poured in business class.

What else is American Airlines working on in Australia and the Asia-Pacific region?

The Auckland-LAX daily, non-stop route was launched in June as part of the joint business with Qantas.  The Hong Kong-LAX daily, non-stop route was also launched on Wednesday, becoming AA’s second service to Hong Kong. We’ve made an application to start a new daily non-stop service between Beijing and LAX, which, once approved, will start on December 16. All our new routes are connecting to LAX, which is American Airlines’ biggest hub on the west coast of the US, and also a key gateway to the Pacific.

What changes have American Airlines made to the fleet?

American Airlines invested over US$5.3 billion in all aspects our aircraft fleet last year, making it the youngest and most modern fleet of the US network airlines. This investment included a delivery of 127 new aircrafts.

In 2016, American Airlines expects to launch a further 97 new aircrafts. During the second quarter of this year, we invested US$1.2 billion in new aircraft. Furthermore, we have plans to introduce our premium economy class on our international wide-body fleet. This new class of service will fit directly between first class and business class. Product features of this class include more legroom, wider seats, personal on-demand entertainment, noise reducing headphones, priority check-in and boarding, checked baggage allowance, amenity kits, enhanced meals, spirits, beer and wine.

What benefits can travellers expect to experience when flying with American Airlines?

Last month, American Airlines added complimentary premium movies, TV shows, music and games in the main cabin on all domestic flights, offering seat-back entertainment systems and Wi-Fi. Customers now have unrestricted access to the best and largest content library among the US carriers from their own device or seat-back entertainment systems.

American Airlines is re-imagining the lounge experience this year, too. In a first for US carriers, flagship dining will be introduced. This one-of-a-kind, pre-flight meal with full table side service at selected gateway hubs will roll out at JFK, DFW, LAX and MIA airports. Next year, first class travellers on American Airlines’s 3-class international and transcontinental flights (including the SYD-LAX route) will have exclusive access to flagship dining.

American Airlines will also redefine it’s exclusive flagship lounge located at JFK, LAX and ORD (Chicago), with more expansive spaces, more modern furnishings, and access for more premium travellers. The elevated flagship lounge experience will make its debut at DFW, MIA and PHL (Philadelphia) airports.