American Airlines expects to restore full local catering on all its London Heathrow departures by 28 October, ending a seven-month disruption that forced the airline to load extra food from the United States on return flights.
The airline now has 17 dedicated catering trucks at Heathrow, with more arriving shortly, according to an internal update first reported by aviation insider JonNYC and confirmed by Simple Flying on 3 October. Boeing 777-200 flights have already returned to full local catering. Boeing 787-9 departures are scheduled to transition on 13 and 14 October, with the remaining operation moving to local provisioning on 27 and 28 October for US and London departures respectively.
The disruption began after American ended its contract with its previous Heathrow caterer, Dnata, in February 2026 over unconfirmed hygiene concerns. That forced the airline to double-cater some flights, carrying food from US bases to cover the return leg. The airline switched to DO & CO as its new Heathrow caterer in May, but the fix did not take full effect immediately because of a shortage of the specialised trucks needed to load meals at Heathrow's high-volume operation, Simple Flying reported.
InsideFlyer, citing the same internal update, reported on 2 October that the double-catering arrangement had strained aircraft storage and reduced meal choice and availability, particularly in premium cabins, during the seven-month period.
Under the new arrangement, DO & CO coordinators will remain on board every American departure from Heathrow to verify that catering has been loaded correctly before boarding begins, a practice the airline intends to keep once local provisioning is fully restored. Beer, spirits and premium-cabin wines will continue to be loaded in the US as standard practice across American's international network, so drinks service is not affected by the change.
American has described the dates as expectations rather than guaranteed, so the final timeline could shift. If it holds, 28 October will mark the end of double provisioning on American's Heathrow route, just over seven months after the original disruption began.
What this means for your journey: if you are flying American from Heathrow in the coming weeks, meal service should steadily improve as each aircraft type transitions back to local catering, with the full switch expected by late October. For getting to and from the airport while you travel, see our /public-transport/ and /parking/ guides.