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Meal Service Tray

American Airlines offers special meals to meet specific dietary needs at your request on select flights. Specifications for all medical-needs diets are approved and monitored by a Registered Dietitian. Nutritional requirements are based on the whole meal rather than individual components.

Special Meal Availability

Special meals are available on Breakfast, Lunch, Dinner, Snack and Breakfast Snack flights when ordered in advance.

Order at least 24 hours prior to the flight:

  • In First and Business Classes on non-stop transcontinental flights in the U.S.. Special Meals are not available in our main cabin on domestic U.S. flights.
  • In all classes to or from Europe and Asia
  • In all classes to or from Belo Horizonte, Recife, Rio de Janeiro, Salvador or Sao Paulo, Brasilia, Brazil; Asuncion, Paraguay; Buenos Aires, Argentina; Santiago, Chile or Montevideo, Uruguay.
We will do everything possible to honor all meal requests but cannot guarantee meal availability for all flights involving a last minute itinerary change.
Japanese Meal Pre-Order Option How to request a special meal

Meal Code - JPML

Seasonal Japanese appetizer tray, featuring Duck Roll with Asparagus

As of February 1, 2010, American Airlines will only offer traditional Japanese meals to First Class and Business Class customers who pre-order them. Japanese meals should be requested up to 24 hours in advance of the flight. Customers who do not pre-order a traditional Japanese meal will be offered a choice of Western and Japanese-fusion dishes, which include new entrées designed by celebrity consulting chef Sam Choy. Learn more about pre-ordering and view the sample menus.

The meal service provided will be comparable to the meal scheduled for your flight based on the flight departure time, the length of the flight and the meal service offered.

  1. Confirm a reservation on a flight with scheduled meal service.
  2. Check the information on this page to determine the availability of special meals.
  3. Check the information on this page to determine the minimum time required for ordering meals.
  4. To reserve your special meal call American Airlines at 1-800-433-7300 in the U.S. and Canada or your local American Airlines office. If you booked through an authorized agency, please contact your agency directly for special meal requests.
  5. When you check in, advise the gate agent and a flight attendant that you ordered a special meal.
777 Flagship Suite

777 Flagship Suite

Flight attendant With First Class Food 767 Business Class

767 Business Class

Special Dietary Meals Special Religious Meals

Diabetic - Meal Code - DBML Suitable for reduced sugar, hyperglycemic, hypoglycemic and carbohydrate controlled meal requests.

Gluten Intolerant - Meal Code - GFML also known as low gliadin, non-tropical sprue, Celiac disease, low wheat, wheat free, gluten restricted diet. A Gluten Intolerant Meal eliminates all foods prepared with wheat, rye, barley and oats.

Vegetarian - Meal Code - VGML Vegetarian meals do not contain meat, fish or seafood. Nuts may be used as a protein substitute.

Kosher - Meal Code - KSML Meals are Orthodox approved by the Jewish Orthodox Union. Kosher meals are adapted during Passover.

Muslim - Meal Code - MOML  Halal Meals are available on International flights only. Entrees may contain fish or poultry from Halal sources. No pork, lard or alcohol is used in meal preparation. On domestic flights, where Special Meals are offered, MOML meals are substituted with Vegetarian (VGML).

Hindu - may we suggest our delicious Vegetarian - VGML

Sample Menus

Select the meal code to see examples of each special meal.

Note: All food items are examples of menus that fit the dietary requirements of each meal category. Actual food items served may be different.

Nut Allergy - American recognizes that some passengers are allergic to peanuts and other tree nuts. Although we do not serve peanuts, we do serve other nut products (such as warmed nuts) and there may be trace elements of unspecified nut ingredients,including peanut oils, in meals and snacks. We do not have in place procedures that allow our flight crews not to serve these foods upon request of a customer. We do not provide nut "buffer zones". Our planes are cleaned regularly, but these cleanings are not designed to ensure the removal of nut allergens, nor are our air filtration systems designed to remove nut allergens. Additionally, other customers may bring peanuts or other tree nuts on board. Therefore, we cannot guarantee customers will not be exposed to peanuts or other tree nuts during flight, and we strongly encourage customers to take all necessary medical precautions to prepare for the possibility of exposure.