Lights Out: American Airlines Flight Attendants Forced to Serve Meals In The Dark On London Flight—’They Just Sent The Plane Anyway’

Why It Matters

Operating a transatlantic flight without proper galley lighting compromises service quality and elevates safety hazards, highlighting how airlines balance cost, schedule pressure, and regulatory allowances.

Key Takeaways

• Flight dispatched with non‑functional galley lights
• Crew used flashlights to serve meals in darkness
• Airline cited Minimum Equipment List to avoid delay
• Service quality and safety risks increased significantly
• Incident highlights maintenance prioritization vs passenger experience

Pulse Analysis

Airlines routinely rely on Minimum Equipment List (MEL) provisions to keep aircraft airborne when non‑critical systems fail. Under MEL, a plane may operate with certain equipment inoperative, provided the issue does not affect overall airworthiness and a safe flight can be maintained. In the case of American Airlines’ London‑Los Angeles service, the galley lighting system was deemed non‑essential enough to defer repair, allowing the aircraft to depart on schedule and avoid costly gate delays at Heathrow. This decision reflects a broader industry calculus where the financial impact of a delay—crew duty‑time limits, slot penalties, and passenger connections—often outweighs the inconvenience of a temporary service degradation.

The absence of functional galley lights, however, creates a cascade of operational challenges. Flight attendants must rely on handheld flashlights, which limits visibility for food preparation, increases the likelihood of spills, and raises burn risks when handling hot beverages. Passengers experience reduced service quality, potentially eroding brand perception on premium long‑haul routes. Moreover, crew fatigue can rise as attendants perform tasks in suboptimal conditions, potentially affecting overall cabin safety. While regulatory bodies permit such MEL‑based operations, airlines are expected to mitigate attendant risks through training and equipment, such as ensuring adequate personal flashlights and revised service protocols.

This incident may prompt regulators and industry groups to revisit the thresholds for deferring galley‑related equipment failures, especially on international flights where service standards are scrutinized. Airlines could benefit from proactive maintenance buffers, allowing quick swaps of faulty components without sacrificing schedule integrity. By aligning operational decisions with passenger safety and experience, carriers can preserve both their reputation and compliance posture, turning a short‑term cost avoidance into a long‑term competitive advantage.

Lights Out: American Airlines Flight Attendants Forced to Serve Meals In The Dark On London Flight—’They Just Sent The Plane Anyway’

View from the Wing

On Saturday, February 14, American Airlines flight 137 from London Heathrow to Los Angeles was dispatched without working galley lights. Flight attendants had to jerry‑rig jump‑seat flashlights as substitutes, using emergency flashlights to serve meals on a transatlantic flight from London to Los Angeles after the airline dispatched the aircraft without functioning galley lights. As the person sharing video of this put it, “They just sent the plane anyway.”

Crew faced challenging conditions preparing food and drinks in near darkness. Without proper light, meals can be improperly plated, and fewer passes through the cabin offering service are possible. Galley carts may need to be staged differently, and it can be dangerous to prepare hot beverages for passengers because spills and burns become more likely in the dimly‑lit workspace.

[Video: Flight attendants serving meals in the dark]

American would have sent out the plane under Minimum Equipment List procedures, deciding that it was more costly to take a delay at Heathrow than to defer maintenance. It’s unclear how long it would have taken to fix the issue—electrical troubleshooting might take five minutes or five hours, and parts would have to be available.

While crew are almost certainly all originating at Heathrow, there can be a concern about available duty time (as well as downstream effects of delaying the aircraft). Losing take‑off position can extend the delay even further.

Every crewmember must have a working flashlight available, so the flashlights are there anyway. My understanding is that a cabin‑lighting issue like this can be deferred for up to ten days, provided sufficient light is otherwise available. My concerns here aren’t so much safety of the aircraft, but service implications and safety of preparing meals in this environment. I reached out to American Airlines for comment and they did not respond.