Josh Cahill Slams Copa Airlines: Poor Service, Dry Food & a Disappointing Avianca Lounge

Few airlines generate as polarising a reaction among frequent travellers as Copa Airlines, the Panama City-based Star Alliance carrier that dominates connectivity across Latin America. In a video published on 21 February 2026, aviation reviewer Josh Cahill put Copa to the test on a routing from Miami International Airport (MIA) to Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport (PBM) in Suriname — a journey that also involved Surinam Airways — and returned a verdict that will give prospective passengers pause: the cabin had its merits, but the catering and crew service fell well short of what a full-service carrier should deliver.

Cahill's summary was unambiguous from the outset. "Copa Airlines left a lot to be desired," he stated at the top of the video, setting a tone of measured disappointment rather than outright condemnation.

Copa Airlines left a lot to be desired.

Pre-Flight: Panama City and the Avianca Lounge

The itinerary routed Cahill through Panama City, Copa's hub, where he accessed the Avianca Lounge ahead of his onward connection. The facility failed to impress. Cahill described the experience as "very underwhelming" — a blunt assessment that will resonate with business travellers who regard lounge quality as an integral part of the premium proposition. This marks the first time Cahill has reviewed the Avianca Lounge, so there is no historical baseline from his channel against which to measure any improvement or decline.

The stay in Panama City also featured a night at the Aloft Panama City, another first for the channel. Panama City itself is new territory for Cahill, as is Suriname as a destination and Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport as an airport — both appearing on his channel for the first time. The destination context matters: Suriname is one of South America's least-visited countries, and the routing through Panama City underlines Copa's role as the primary gateway for travellers heading to Paramaribo.

Cahill noted that he was "slightly worried that the flight gets cancelled" ahead of departure — a candid admission of the operational uncertainty that can accompany travel to less-served destinations in the region.

Onboard Copa Airlines: Cabin Redeemed, Catering and Service Do Not

The overall verdict on Copa Airlines was mixed. Cahill acknowledged the cabin product positively, but the two areas that define the passenger experience on any full-service carrier — food and crew — both disappointed. On catering, he was direct: "The food was very dry and didn't taste very fresh." On service, the verdict was equally unsparing: "The service experience was really poor." These are not minor quibbles about portion size or wine selection; they represent a failure in the fundamentals of airline hospitality.

The service experience was really poor.

This is the third Copa Airlines-adjacent video Cahill has published in recent months, following his review of Surinam Airways in December 2025 — which also featured the Miami-to-Paramaribo corridor — and his Spirit Airlines review in February 2026, suggesting a sustained focus on Latin American and Caribbean connectivity. The Surinam Airways video, published six months prior, drew a mixed verdict of its own: catering and crew were praised, but legroom and seat comfort were criticised. Surinam Airways appears again in the current itinerary, reinforcing its role as the primary carrier serving Johan Adolf Pengel International Airport.

For context, Noel Philips reviewed Avianca's service on a similarly budget-oriented Latin American routing approximately two years before this video, criticising the carrier's service while praising Spirit Airlines' pricing — a comparison that underscores the competitive pressures Copa faces in the region, though the time gap is too wide to draw direct conclusions.

Verdict: A Carrier That Needs to Raise Its Game

Copa Airlines occupies a structurally important position in Latin American aviation: as a Star Alliance member and the dominant hub carrier at Tocumen International Airport in Panama City, it handles an enormous volume of connecting traffic between North America, South America, and the Caribbean. That structural importance, however, does not insulate it from the kind of scrutiny that Cahill applies to every airline he reviews.

The food was very dry and didn't taste very fresh.

The pattern here is consistent with Cahill's broader findings on mid-tier full-service carriers: a hardware product that is acceptable, let down by a software experience — crew attitude and catering — that fails to justify the full-service premium. The Avianca Lounge disappointment compounds the issue: when the pre-flight experience underwhelms and the inflight service follows suit, the overall journey becomes difficult to recommend. Travellers connecting through Panama City to Paramaribo via Copa Airlines may find the cabin adequate for the journey, but those expecting the warmth and culinary standards of the region's better carriers will likely leave the experience wanting more. For a carrier of Copa's network scale and alliance membership, that gap between expectation and delivery is the central problem this review identifies.