Remember the days when comedians used to joke about the food airlines gave their passengers?
Now the about the only thing they will have to joke about are Southwest peanuts. Continental, the last holdout among major domestic carriers to offer free food in coach, has announced they are going into the business of selling inflight meals.
In a press release, Continental of course trumpeted this change as a positive for passengers. The airline stated they would change their meal service this fall “by introducing a variety of high quality, healthy food choices for purchase in economy class on many U.S./Canada and certain Latin American routes.”
The airline added they will still still keep free meals on international routes, and on “long-haul domestic routes over six hours.” (which basically means flights from Houston or Newark to Hawaii.)
The quote from Jim Compton, the airline’s executive V.P. and chief marketing officer barely alludes to costs being a factor:
“We are improving our economy meal service with a high-quality, industry-leading food-for-purchase program that is consistent with the strong brand image and high service standards for which our customers recognize us. Our traditional free-food model has served us well for many years, but we need to change to reflect today’s market and customer preferences.”
And let me be fair, Continental certainly cannot be faulted for joining other carriers in trying to save money by eliminating free meals. But calling it an “improvement” is perhaps more than a little disingenuous. While the free food in coach was seldom that good, I can’t honestly think of any food item sold on an airline in the U.S. that I actually look forward to buying.
For Jim to note that the change is because of “customer preferences” is beyond laughable. I guess that Continental’s reasoning is that since passengers are paying for food on all other major airlines, they obviously like the experience. Why should Continental ruin this obvious “customer preference” with a plate of horrible free food.
No menu items or prices have been announced for Continental’s new program, and the target roll-out date is simply stated as “fall.” (Possible translation, we want to see what kind of reaction we get?)
At the moment, however, the airline does say they plan to keep free pretzels.
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