Airlines to charge for food?
TV ClubHouse: Archives: 2003 January:
Airlines to charge for food?
Crazydog | Friday, January 03, 2003 - 02:13 pm     I read that this is going to happen. I think it's ridiculous that airlines are going to start charging for food on flights that normally do not have food service. You pay a couple hundred dollars or so and on top of that, you've got to pay 50 cents for that craptacular pretzel mix? I realize that airlines are in trouble right now and are trying to raise revenues and cut costs. IMO, the biggest problem with the airlines is their labor problems. These pilots and mechanics are constantly on strike because they think they are underpaid. I have no idea how much a pilot or airline mechanic makes, but something tells me they aren't doing too badly. I think the airlines need to reduce salaries and simply say, it's better to take a pay cut than to get laid off. |
Sadiesmom | Friday, January 03, 2003 - 03:55 pm     I don't think they are going to charge for snacks just 10 dollars for sandwiches and a drink. I remember being stuck on a plane on a runway for 8 hours (no exit) I would have paid 50, but they said all the food had spoiled at that point. I begged for the fruit, to no avail. Sigh. |
Webkitty | Friday, January 03, 2003 - 04:29 pm     I don't like the idea of serving food in the first place. Who eats that stuff anyway? (except for Sadiesmom, who had a reason to!) The flight attendants have to block the asile for almost the whole flight to serve it, forget trying to get up to go to the restroom. Even if they are just handing out free snacks and drinks, it still blocks the isle. Now they want to charge for food. I can just see the conjestion that will cause with change needing to be made and people asking all sorts of questions. I would rather have clear access to the isle and restroom and at least be able to stand up to get to the overhead without having to wait for the food cart to work its painfully slow way past. I always eat before I get on the plane if its going to be a long flight anyway, there are good chain restaurants in every airport. I also bring along my own bottle of water. Those little flimsy plastic cups they serve beverages in are a nusence and the ice is probably covered in germs anyway. I say forget the fake food and lower the prices. |
Sadiesmom | Friday, January 03, 2003 - 04:47 pm     Hey webkitty, no problem - they will just move all the seats up a smidge to put in the vending machines, now you will have lines at the coke machine, no more carts in the aisle |
Squaredsc | Friday, January 03, 2003 - 04:54 pm     the food is nasty anyway so now you have to pay for it too. |
Bastable | Friday, January 03, 2003 - 05:18 pm     I'm a travel writer for a living, and I hear American Airlines has already said they won't do it themselves--it costs too much to prepare food that people may not eat. However, they may go in partnerships with take-away kitchens at the airport gates. It had to happen. And no one will complain. American sat by like lumps when movie theaters began showing commercial ads before the movies we already pay too much to see. And did we object? Nope. You'll find companies will only do what Americans are willing to put up with. And man, we're apparently too lazy to put a stop to much. |
Sherbabe | Friday, January 03, 2003 - 07:29 pm     sadiesmom.........were you on that flight in detroit on NW that was delayed? Yikes...that was a nightmare. |
Hippyt | Friday, January 03, 2003 - 07:50 pm     It's just American West airlines that will be doing it. I've flown this airline,and I don't think they have any really long flights.What I heard was an appetizer box with cheese,crackers,pepperoni,and a desert will be $3.00. A full meal will be more up to $10.00. Personally,I don't think it's a bad idea.It's just an option. I wouldn't buy any of it. Beverages and the wonderful pretzels will still be served free of charge. |
Wiseolowl | Friday, January 03, 2003 - 10:15 pm     Bastable - im really jealous -I'd love to do your kind of work - mainly a vicarious traveller - but there's enough BS in me to fake it - or is it like most other jobs - glamorous on the outside and just another job in the reality? |
Grooch | Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 07:29 am     Delta sells cookies on their flights. But I believe the profits go to a charity. |
Webkitty | Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 07:35 am     <whine> but what about the carts blocking the isle!! Couldn't the flight attendants just stand at the end and throw out the bags of peanuts to everyone? |
Goddessatlaw | Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 09:09 am     Bastable, you hit that nail on the head - I can't believe I pay (well, MM pays) $20.00 bucks to sit through 10 minutes of commercials before they get to the commercials for other movies followed by commercials for their own popcorn stand with those claymation figures that never fail to creep me out. I say we all stop going to the theater until they cut the f/. Whizzes me off. As for the airlines, I think their food consists of military MRE's that are past expiration date (which takes some marinating, let me assure you). They can keep their crappy faux hazelnuts. If they're going to charge for meals, have passengers order and pay for them at the same time they buy their tickets so the rest of us who guard against stomach corrosion can troll the aisles in peace (with our cocktails, por supuesto). Better suggestion: give every passenger a plastic bottle of Cristal with a straw upon boarding and let the good times roll. PS Crazydog - love "craptacular." Great word. |
Kaili | Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 09:45 am     I pre-order vegetarian meals for my flights. I am a vegetarian anyway, but others I know do the same just because the food tends to be a little better. Usually I prefer to bring my own snacks. America West has been doing the snack bags for awhile now already. In Phoenix they have a cooler set up on the walkway onto the plane so there isn't the extras on the plane (and only drink carts in the aisles!). I guess I figure I can generally go a few hours without having to eat. |
Fruitbat | Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 10:14 am     I have no objection to airlines eliminating food on shorter flights. What they serve is terrible and the vending machines would have lousy food as well. There is plenty of food to grab at an airport and if they did stop serving more choices would appear. I usually just don't eat until I get to where I am going anyway or I pack some fruit. |
Babyruth | Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 01:30 pm     Bastable, you would probably get a kick from comparing notes with my Dad, who was a travel writer during the first part of my childhood (early 60's). He was the managing editor of a major airline magazine and traveled the globe. He got to see and experience things the average traveler did not. I often wish I had followed in his footsteps (so to speak...)! Here's an interesting piece I found on Google about inflight food service: "Early airlines considered passengers a nuisance. Even after airmail carriers went into the passenger business, perks were usually limited to playing cards and a so-called "burp cup" for motion sickness. Dinner on United Airlines in 1927 was a ham-and-cheese sandwich, an apple and coffee, or creamed chicken in a thermos, rolls and coffee - which the copilot handed to passengers when they boarded the airplane. United revolutionised inflight service by hiring eight young female nurses to tend to passengers. In 1936 United opened the industry's first flight kitchen, complete with Eurpoean chefs. Three days later, the first hot meal - a choice of fried chicken or scrambled eggs - was served aboard a DC-3 Mainliner. United's engineers had designed an electrically heated compartment to keep food hot. Meals were packed in a papier-mache box that doubled as a lap tray. In the late 1930s, United took a leading role in the design of the 4-engine DC-4 and moved the galley from its traditional location at the front of the plane to a spot near the rear doorway. The more spacious galley was easier to load and for the first time included equipment for warming food in flight. By the middle 1950s, United chef-supervised flight kitchens had launched a culinary tradition. Mainliner meals were the best aloft. A monthly recipe from a United chef was a highlight of the inflight magazine. For "25¢ in coin" you could mail order "Favourite Recipes of Mainliner Chefs" whose resumes included the best U S restaurants. Today, food preparation is done to specifications by caterers, but United chefs still create and test recipes in the airline's kitchens. The commitment to good food goes beyond the dozens of meals designed to fit an amazing array of special dietary needs. Since 1994, dishes inspired by famous restaurants have brought culinery distinction to United routes. Since 1997, celebrity chefs have crafted regional meals with Asian, Hawaiian, Southwestern and other flavours, including specialties from participating eateries in the Chicago food fair. Also available are Mrs Fields cookies, Eli's cheesecake, and Starbucks coffee. United's commitment to cuisine would have made the Mainliner chefs proud." Source: Hemispheres Magazine May 2001; you can find them on the web at www.hemispheresmagazine.com |
Bastable | Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 03:41 pm     Wiseolowl, Babyruth, I really love what I do. Sure, you have to put up with a little grief when you're back at home--but only the usual job stuff that everyone has to put up with. Nothing really endemic to the profession. Basically what I do is function like a professional tourist. I do stuff and then explain how my readers can do it, too, for cheap. Unlike most travel writers, I don't really get the opportunity to expound on my personal experiences in a place; I stick to guiding wannabes through the process of duplicating my experience. It's sort of like a guide book in a magazine. I love it! Next week, I'm going to Australia (so I'll be off the boards for a spell), which will mean I'll have visited all the inhabited continents in 9 months--all paid for by someone else! So crazy. When I come home, though, I can really be a homebody. I especially despise having to go away while Big Brother is on. But it's amazing--it's like there are two Mes, the Me at home and the Me who travels happily, and I really know how to switch each one on and off so that I don't get homesick. As for airline food, I already stick mostly to the airlines that don't serve food anyway (JetBlue is my absolute favorite airline in the world). What would kill me is if the airlines charged for food on long international flights. But I don't think that's even an idea right now. |
Goddessatlaw | Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 03:51 pm     Bastable, do you ever travel through Kenya? My sister handles land based tours (mostly safaris) for a cruise company out of Boston. The ships land in Mombassa and the tourists travel up to Nairobi and then are dispatched out into the African wilderness. I haven't seen her in the past few years when she hasn't been sideways with jetlag. I've never seen anyone else like her who could just drop off to sleep and stay that way for hours with a party going on around her. Travel always sounds glamorous, but it's so hard on the personal life and hard on the body. Nonetheless, I'd trade you. Wanna trade? You can have my stalkers, and I'll have your jetlag. Fair trade? |
Bastable | Saturday, January 04, 2003 - 09:17 pm     Not a chance! There's no way I would be able to put my faith in our pay-to-play legal system. I'll trust you to do it. I have a pretty easy time traveling, too. Jet lag doesn't floor me the way it does many people. It gets more difficult the older I grow, but I still can handle it. There was a time in my life, when I was backpacking from country to country, that I could sleep anywhere at all, under any circumstances. I'm sure that if I put the ol' backpack on again, I'd get it back. (I also never snore when I travel, but I do at home--interesting, huh?) |
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