What Happened to the Airline Meal?

The free meal in coach on U.S. domestic carriers has largely gone the way of the dodo bird. Let's face it, do you really miss it that much? The last domestic airline to serve a really good meal was probably Braniff, and they have been out of business since the early eighties.

So what happened? Well a lot of things, but the primary reason is the need for increased cost efficiency.

Today's travel websites (this one included) have incredibly powerful airline ticket searching engines. The increased schedule and pricing transparency have made it easy for any net savvy customer to find the cheapest fare for their preferred schedule and make an educated decision on when to be flexible and save money. Most travelers make their ticket purchasing decisions based on schedule, price or a combination of both. For the most part, coach airline travel on the major airlines has become a commodity. Most passengers, who aren't frequent fliers, just don't differentiate amongst airlines very much; a seat from Chicago to Boston is basically the same. What matters to them is the price and to a lesser extent, the schedule. Frequent fliers are going to be tied, for the most part, to whatever airline/airlines that gives them miles.

So how does an airline compete in this type of market? It keeps costs low and offers the best possible rates. The incredible success of Southwest Airlines demonstrates this point very well. Southwest Airlines' original marketing and pricing plan in the 1970's, while operating in Texas, was to offers fares at a price lower than it would cost one to drive. Southwest would compete on price and keep operations as inexpensive as possible. One way Southwest kept costs down was by providing peanuts and soft drinks where other airlines still provided the traditional meal and hedging fuel costs by purchasing fuel options. This allowed the airline to experience continuous growth in a time when many airlines were failing or cutting back.

Since the beginning of this year, jet fuel costs have increased over 20% and have more than tripled for some airlines since 2001. Given this environment, airlines are trying to reduce the weight of their aircraft any way they can to increase fuel efficiency. So, metal utensils have been replaced with plastic, bulky magazines have been removed, heavy seats have been replaced with those having lighter materials and bag weight limits and carry-on limits are being more strictly enforced. Serving a meal on an airline can add significant weight as well, not only from the weight of the food, but also from the carts used to serve it, facilities on-board to store it and prepare it and utensils and containers used to serve it. Even the weight of passengers is scrutinized. Though no airline (yet) has begun to base prices on passenger bulk, some airlines do require larger passengers to purchase a second seat for "safety and comfort."

This greater focus on efficiency is actually a good development for the passenger. If an airline offers a free meal in coach, each customer is going to pay for the cost of that meal whether they want it or not. Given the new environment, a customer who wants to eat on the plane can purchase a meal from the airline (on some flights) or bring whatever they want from the terminal. This all adds up to lower prices, greater choice and better food for the customer because a ground-based food preparer is able to offer a better product, at a lower cost than an airline is ever going to be able to. Not only that, a traveler has a lot more choice in the modern airline terminal than the old "chicken or fish" choice on an in-flight meal. The free meal is gone and that is probably a good thing for everyone.

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