In October 2025, American made an exciting announcement when it comes to coffee. There’s now another update, as the rollout of this has been completed, so passengers can look forward to much better coffee.
American partnering with Lavazza on coffee
American is partnering with Lavazza, whereby we’re seeing Lavazza coffee served both onboard flights and in lounges. For the first time, American is offering a consistent coffee experience both on the ground and in the air.
This partnership has now been fully rolled out, and I’m told that American is now serving Lavazza’s premium coffee blends across all cabins on flights, and in Admirals Clubs and Flagship Lounges. For those not familiar, here’s how Lavazza is described:
Lavazza, a family-owned Italian brand since 1895, is dedicated to crafting exceptional coffee experiences that reflect a legacy of expertise, passion and innovation. For the last 130 years, Lavazza has been at the forefront of coffee craftsmanship, blending time-honored Italian traditions with modern techniques to create premium coffees that are rich, balanced and universally admired. Today, its premium blends are served in top restaurants and hotels around the world, making it a natural fit for American’s elevated hospitality offering. By partnering with Lavazza, American is bringing a globally respected name in coffee to its customers — one that aligns with the airline’s focus on refined offerings and exceptional service throughout the journey.
Here’s how Heather Garboden, American Chief Customer Officer, describes this development:
“At American, we’re focused on looking at every aspect of the customer experience, and a quality cup of coffee is an important part of that journey. We’re proud to team up with this iconic brand to bring a rich, satisfying coffee experience to our customers — whether they’re in the air or relaxing in our lounges.”
For those keeping track of the competitive landscape, Delta serves Starbucks coffee, while United serves Illy coffee.
My take on American’s coffee upgrades
A good cup of coffee is something I’m passionate about, and I’m a big fan of Lavazza (at least as far as the major brands go). So if American was going to partner with a brand of coffee, I’d consider this to basically be the best case scenario. I’m similarly impressed by American partnering with Bollinger on champagne, as for my taste, it beats out United’s Laurent-Perrier and Delta’s Taittinger.
Ultimately the challenge is that the coffee served onboard is still airplane coffee, and there’s no denying that the taste of the coffee is impacted by the water used, the tanks, the impact of altitude on taste buds, etc. In a study, American also ranked last when it came to water quality in the tank, but maybe that’s better to just not think about?
I do have to specifically call out how in the press release about this announcement, American used a picture of a beautiful barista made cappuccino… except American doesn’t actually serve barista coffee in lounges.
My goodness, little in the world would delight me more than American serving barista coffee in at least some of its lounges, but I don’t see that happening. I suppose American does have espresso and cappuccino onboard some aircraft, but they’re unlikely to look like that!
Speaking of coffee on American, could we please, please, please finally see American add cold brew onboard, like United has? Pretty please? I heard that’s the key to getting Delta and United margins… I’m just saying. 😉
Bottom line
American Airlines is now exclusively partnering with Lavazza on coffee. Thanks to a full rollout, you can now expect Lavazza coffee to be served onboard all flights, and also in Admirals Clubs and Flagship Lounges. Ultimately it’s hard to get too excited about drip coffee on an airplane. Regardless, I’m a fan of Lavazza, and am delighted by the investments American is making in passenger experience.
What do you make of American partnering with Lavazza?