Live and Let’s Fly reports that United Airlines is revamping economy class meal service on transatlantic flights starting next month, swapping out the usual pretzel or breadstick starter for a fresh packaged appetizer.
According to a crew memo, here’s how it will work:
- Pre-meal service: Beverage cart plus a tray setup with salad, dressing, bread and butter, a fresh packaged appetizer, dessert, and cutlery.
- Pick-up: Crew collect items as needed before the main course.
- Main meal: A second cart offers drinks and hot entrées. Flight attendants use a black tray to present warm meal choices from the cart.
This mirrors Delta’s economy class service, though United will add extras like salad and bread that Delta doesn’t typically include.
The full service will not be offered on flights departing 8 p.m. or later, or on Boeing 767-300 flights where crew ratios and galley space are tighter (single-tray coach meals remain).
Food in coach doesn’t have to leave you wondering whether photos were taken before or after you’d eaten it.
While economy meals have long the stuff of late night comic monologues (the food was awful, and the portions so small!), in the late 90s United had a celebrity chef partnership for meals in economy! Dishes included Heartland Sunday Braised Beef; Zesty Herb Lasagna; Minty Tortellini Alfredo With Ham; and Orange Grove Chicken.
United Airlines Coach Meal Recipes Were Given Away Onboard In a Cookbook, 1997
Before the pandemic, Delta was actually offering hot towels, welcome cocktails, and ‘thank you’s’ from flight attendants in coach as well as ear plugs and eye shades and amenity kits.
They were also allowing mixing and matching of appetizer and entree choices, along with printed menus, and dessert served as a separate course. This is when Delta was actually trying to be a premium airline, and not focused on premium cabin passengers.
It is possible to offer robust service in economy. The margins are just much smaller. European low cost carrier Volotea sells tasty hot meals on one hour flights. Here’s their butter chicken:
Before the pandemic, United was experimenting with amenities in coach. They were going after Delta even then. Small touches make a big difference in the back cabin, creating a sense among passengers that they’re more than self-loading cargo.
United’s CEO understands that they will sell more tickets by improving the food – driving loyalty, and ultimately credit card acquisition and revenue.
Good luck with that United….
UAL expects the F/A’s to go the extra mile with a completely 3 course service, but without a contract. Hopefully this motivates UAL to get the deal done sooner than later.
Phase out that blue ball safety video!
*variations on Rhapsody in Blue*
Where’s @MaxPower at?
At least you have to give credit for UA for trying to improve at least long haul coach. Remember Pre “Plandemic” both DL and AA offered complimentary meals on JFK/LAX and JFK/SFO flights.
I assume the issue with pre order buy on board for coach is that if 10-15 people on average do not make the flight those meals go in the trash on down the stomachs of flight attendants and presumably the airline would be on the hook for a refund.
The issue is the food sucks it’s not that they need an appetizer. This doesn’t fix anything the food will still be tragic.
The problem is that nobody buys a transatlantic flight based on the quality of the meal. That would be insane. Price and schedule, perhaps followed by frequent flyer loyalty, rule. Heck, seat configuration is more important: in this regard, UA might benefit from their dinosaur 767s that offer the opportunity for 2 to have their own row.
That said, providing a slightly better product makes it slightly more likely that your customers will choose you again. I wouldn’t spend a lot of money on that hope, and nobody does.
It will NEVER, EVER HAPPEN. The US3 are famous for low level staffing. A 777-300 should have 16 cabin crew just ask Singapore, Emirates, Qatar, etc etc etc.
United staffs with 12 & American with 11. It’s why their service is horrendous and pax fly them only as a last resort & their pax surveys rate them with Spirit & Frontier.
It ceases to amaze me the stupid ideas that come from the US3 HDQ management.
And it starts at the very top.