The last free cold sandwiches and hamburgers onboard U.S. flights will end this summer, as Continental becomes the last airline to switch to a food-for-sale program.
Free airline foodservice, which began in 1936 by United Airlines, has diminished as the airline industry has faced budget shortfalls after 9/11. Most free food choices have been withered down to a small bag of pretzels and a can of soda. Most airlines, including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, US Airways and United Airlines, have adopted the food cart method, offering packaged snacks and meals for passengers to purchase.
A Continental spokesman said Monday the change will save the Houston-based company about $35 million a year in savings and added revenue.
“All of Continental’s significant U.S. competitors either do not offer food or have already implemented food sales for economy class travelers,” Continental’s marketing chief, Jim Compton, said in a statement. “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.”
Continental’s current free meal program serves a beverage and light snack for flights lasting two hours, a sandwich roll or morning muffin for flights up to three hours, and a hot sandwich, meal or cereal in the morning, for longer flights. The airline will still serve free meals to economy class passengers on international and domestic flights exceeding six hours.
The food-for-sale program will give passengers more variety in their meal choices, Continental said. Menu choices and prices have not yet been disclosed.
The last free meals will be this summer, as the change begins in the fall.
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Sources:
New York Times. “Want a Burger While Flying Over Boise? On Continental, It’ll Cost,” http://www.nytimes.com/2010/03/16/business/16air.html; 15 March 2010.
Independent Traveler. “Which airlines serve meals?” http://www.independenttraveler.com/resources/article.cfm?AID=571&category=1; accessed 16 March 2010.
