Japan Airlines is asking business class customers to skip meals on board, telling them it is the ethical thing to do.
An interesting concept for charity, but I cannot see planefood lovers opting for it 😉 pic.twitter.com/YQYAdgDLb3
— Wayne Kwong @waynewykwong@mas.to (@waynewykwong) January 3, 2023
JAL, which first tested this on their overnight Bangkok – Tokyo Haneda flight at the end of 2020, will give you an extra amenity kit as a thank you. Are they even eliminating waste?
Now, you may think you’re going to eat in the lounge before your flight and skip the meal on board. But then you’re running late and don’t and don’t have time. I’m not sure it’s even a good idea to flag that you don’t plan to eat, since there’s a chance your ability to predict your future self is imperfect.
Delta Air Lines offers business class customers the choice to pre-select skipping a meal which they promote will “help reduce food waste.” Now, why do they do this?
- The environment. I do not believe this. No one greenwashes like Delta (well, maybe Frontier which claims to be the ‘greenest airline’ after all they paint their planes green). Delta owns an oil refinery but sure it’s for the planet.
- Cost savings. This seems to me the obvious answer, but Delta objects to this framing (but doesn’t offer an alternative one).
Still they do not go nearly as far as Japan Airlines which claims the ethical choice is not to eat on board, which must make a business class passenger choosing to eat unethical.
China Southern, which has promoted passengers skipping meals on flights under 800 miles, at least rewards them with miles when making this choice, effectively splitting the savings so both the airline and passenger benefit.
This is all cost savings. Japanese bs and say anything to try and make back mega losses for stupidly closing the borders for 3 years. Hate JL.
Of course it’s cost savings. I just hate the b*ll sh*t virtue signaling guilt trip they use to frame it.
Unethical to waste food too?
Japan Airlines new meal policy: Lost in Translation
I think some of you missed the point. The ethical part is that those like me who want to sleep vs have a meal, we don’t have a way to alert them in advance to not load and prep a meal. Why not tell them you don’t want it? It’s a waste. A wasted meal that has to be loaded and taken care of, flown at 6-8 miles high, and then cannot be easily repurposed. I would love to turn my meals down, in advance, on flights where I really need to focus on sleep.
I fly JL mainly to get Oneworld miles/status – their meals in Business Class have been shrinking over the past few years, certainly in terms of quantity and sadly, also quality. Long haul Premium Economy meals are a joke.
This makes sense for a passenger that wants to sleep. I get it. The ethical part might be a shaming technique leading one to feel guilty. It’s a cultural thing.
I don’t know why Japan Airlines and ANA are well known. Their service is not as good as other Asian carriers, Singapore, EVA, Vietnam Airlines, Cathay, China Airlines. The foods cannot even compare to those I mention. Japanese flight attendants are not courtesy and sometimes being disrectpectful to non-white customers. If readers praise Japan Airlines and ANA, try to fly with Singapore, EVA, Vietnam Airlines, or Cathay, you will never go back to those two Japanese carriers.
Food wouldn’t get wasted if surplus got donated to the homeless or to animals ie at the very least throw it into the woods.
Maybe they’re doing their J pax a favor. I find JL meals the most underwhelming of any OneWorld carrier. I only fly JL if there is absolutely no other option, primarily because I dread the food on long haul. (If I fly them, I make sure I have lots of peanuts & snacks in my carry-on).
– I got the same message when flying HAN to NRT in PE back on Dec 1.
I try to never eat on a plane. I do have a soft spot for the ice cream sundae. Even if I could stop the meal from being loaded, I am not certain that I trust the system to keep me on track with other eating options (lounge, restaurant) when I am running from a plane that was late to a plane that is closing the doors in 5 minutes. Is it ethical for JAL to not keep their promised schedule? It would probably be hilarious what JAL believes is their cost to provide that meal should they want to credit me for it.
They’re not saying it’s unethical to eat on board. They’re saying it’s ethical to let them know if you won’t be eating.
We look forward to NOT serving you on your flight.
Sadly, ANA has foolishly embraced woke ideology.
“ The ANA Group is promoting ESG management that considers the Environment, Society and Governance, with the aim of realizing a sustainable society and enhancing corporate value. Under the slogan of “ANA Future Promise”, we aim to achieve the SDGs by developing initiatives with a sense of unity among ANA Group employees while gaining the understanding and cooperation of our customers.”
Skipping meals in a flight for the enviroment?. ARE YOU KIDDING ME? Thats laughable.
First of all these days airlines have cut the amount of food one receives on a flight to save on cost. I know first hand. I was an International Purser for a major Airline. In First Class and Business where I worked people clean there plates. We have have been dooped with false information over this hokus pokus global warming over the years. A politition once said that by 2020 Miami would be under water. Well Miami is still there. Water hasn’t risen. 2022 had the coldest weather since 1966. Who pours billions of dollars into this garbage?
Will they reduce business class fares too?
Otherwise, to ask pax to skip meals during the flight and not offering something in return, it’s unethical.
An extra amenity kit it’s not a fair substitute for meals, but 30,000 bonus miles are.
This the same as hotels not changing linens unless requested. Which is even worse because NOT changing linens is the default. In both cases the savings(profit) is held by the operating company. In both of these type of cases the airline and hotel could be the same company, double dipping. No meal, reduce my ticket price. No clean sheets, reduce my room rate. Don’t pretend you are saving the planet. You are saving MONEY! My money! Charging the same price for reduced service.
Guessing it’s just a translation issue that the writer happily jumped on to stir up pageviews and comments from the eager and waiting commentariat (guilty as charged). Hasn’t BA always had pretty much exactly the same thing where you eat in the lounge beforehand and then tell them to leave you alone the whole flight?
Nope, please get me rice, vegetable broth/soup, noodles, tea, and fruit. Nothing fancy, but I’m not buying the unethical nonsense.
Flew business Bos to NRT served some raw steak Was not worth it. The shepherds pie in economy was better. On a 14 hr flight I a not given up a meal. Make it better. And don’t steal the headphones an hour before landing.
All the people who are upset by this – do you really think there are people who are so weak-willed that they will be pressured into skipping a meal involuntarily? I certainly don’t feel hurt by this option existing.
As the comments here and the Delta article show, some customers want this option. More consumer choice = good, right? If you don’t want to skip a meal you don’t have to; the stewardess isn’t going to stand next to you shouting “shame, shame” while you eat.
But of course, it gets more clicks if Gary confects outrage and puts words into the mouths of the airline…
Well, at least it you don’t eat you don’t have to take your mask off!
Just took ua to Japan and jl back, both on biz.
Jl’s food wins hands down.
Stupid branding/marketing. Otherwise great idea. Wish more carriers would adopt it.
I lost count of the number of times I’ve turned down breakfast on US-EU flights. Always better food immediately available on the ground. Would be nice to be able to let the airline know in advance.
Flew SFO-NRT RT on JAL PE. Food was both minimal and lousy. On the flight back the breakfast they served in a box was both bizzare and nasty. My wife refused to eat it. I did because I wanted some food. Next time I fly on JAL PE I will bring my own meal to eat. Seriously I will.
Have flown JAL J and F class multiple times. I love they’re food but preface this by saying I always order the Japanese meals. I do not feel in the least bit guilty as I always clean my plate. Lol!
It is like bottled water companies in places with perfectly fine tap water stressing how their bottles are recyclable notwithstanding the cost to the environment of producing and shipping the heavy bottle. How many gallons per mile does a jet use. Please…… Maybe they should say that for short flights, please do not fly us, take the bus.
Long flight ! skip the meals that a bad ideas!
International customs requirements are the number 1 cause of airplane food waste.
I think the airline providing passengers the option of declining in advance is fine. But the airline should provide some sort of compensation/discount in return. Otherwise, they are making extra profit from these customers for nothing extra in return. I flew Y class SIN HND in April 2022. The food was dire. I struggled to believe they had sunk this far. Other comments in this thread suggest this is common for them. I don’t expect brilliant food in economy class and am happy to eat most of what is usually served, but this bordered on inedible. It was dreadful. Probably the worst meal in 25 years of regular flying in Australia and Asia. So, my feeling is that JL is doing this purely for profit reasons, not ethical ones. But, recently living in Japan, it is clear that this is a trend there. Before, one always felt that in Japan you received great value and quality for what was paid. Now, quality of product and value is definitely falling. A reflection of the chronically weak Japanese economy and slowly declining living standards there. Global inflation is hitting Japan and Japanese companies very hard at home.
Unethical?! What is unethical is guilting people not to eat in order to reap profits. Asian culture is so into “face saving” that they’ll put up with this crap, lest they be seen as “unethical”. Nope! I’m not having any of their food guilt. In fact, bring me another meal!
It is “unethical” to fly, period, at least unless it is absolutely necessary to do so.
This is so incredibly petty, it’s not worth my time. Japanese carriers are extremely respectful and responsible. You missed the message and now you’re going to bitch about it. Eye roll and a little chuckle.
I would be great if companies could just be honest with its customers & cut the spin.
And standards aren’t only slipping at the Japanese airlines. I recently flew several Singapore Airlines flights and as a long term SQ customer could clearly see the drop in the quality of service it has been well know for. Gone are the hot towels, the ample supply of amenities in the restroom & its familiar deodoriser scent, limited drink options & just a meal, nothing special, plus a very lame entertainment offering. Sadly, it has left me with a downgraded feeling for a once brilliant airline.
Who snatches headphones an hour before landing?! (Referring to an earlier comment) The crew isn’t about your comfort, they wanna get the f#%ck off the plane and get to their layover. Obviously tired of you! Laughable.
Had anyone else ever traveled in Japan? They often don’t allow food to be eaten in other modes of travel like buses or trains. Culturally, it’s to respect those who might get nauseous from smelling food and to keep things clean. This isn’t exactly the same thing, but it fits with how they do things in Japan
Hey William, one year does not a trend make. Turn off FOX NEWS and read actual scientists. Global climate change is real.
Hey Gregg, another William here.
Let us consider that three of the eight rocks orbiting our solar system’s central attraction are experiencing unusual temperature spikes. Earth, Venus, and Jupiter are seeing spikes unlike any others recorded by science. Not only are the temperatures increasing, but they all also began at about the same time, with minor delays for NASA and others to analyze and release the data. The articles are out there for you to Google. Most have appeared in the past three or four years, with some in 2021/22.
So, if humankind is the sole source of global warming on Earth, what excuse do the other two planets have? They lack cows farting, so you cannot hang the responsibility on non-vegans. As far as I know, there are no planets besides ours that have organic materials to break down and offgas methane.
I checked my flight radar for all planets, and there are no flights in recorded history. Hell, they do not mine coal on those planets. Come to think of it, there is no “they” on those globular rocks.
Yes, global warming is real. However, the cause of global warming is a money grab for grant money to study Earth’s warming while ignoring our planetary neighbors experiencing the same issue. The temperature rise on the other two is significantly higher than ours.
If we want to base facts on science, we should make an effort to eliminate some of the political theories. Can we call political ideology a science-based hypothesis to prove it as a theory? I think not.
If three of eight have the same problem, we need to examine commonalities between them and eliminate the variables not possible on one or two of the other planets. I am not a planetary scientist, but the one thing all the planets have in common is the sun. We know the sun has been more active over the past five decades with flares, jets of plasma, electromagnetic field displacements, and other matter that interferes with all manner of radiowaves.
Maybe we need to take a step back and consider that humans are not the primary cause. Allow that something more powerful is increasing the surface and atmospheric temperatures of 37.5% of the planets orbiting the sun.
How did the EV owners fare during the massive Arctic blast over the past few weeks? Was it CA that told EV owners not to charge their vehicles because it put too much strain on the electrical grid?
Solar as green energy is a farce. Do you have any idea how hazardous solar panels are to the environment? Not to mention the damage we create by harvesting the raw materials to make the batteries. Are the batteries recycled? Not according to several articles that say recycling is not cost-effective and is very toxic to the environment.
For every green energy effort made, we exploit other natural resources that have deleterious effects on the environment. Harvesting wind energy has become a colossal joke because each turbine requires individual structural engineering to account for unpredictable wind patterns that create metal fatigue. Look at the failure of the Atlantic wind farm. Not to mention how ugly it is and its dangers to animal life. The only saving grace is that their design is much more visually appealing than oil pumps as far as the eye can see.
Are any states permitting solar homes to sell excess energy to power companies? My state never allowed that. I read that CA is slowly phasing out the practice. Perhaps people who invested so much capital in reducing their carbon footprint should sell the excess to their neighbors. Add a few extra batteries and charge to swap them like we do propane tanks. Perhaps solar homes can pay for solar equipment faster than by not paying power companies.
We are quickly depleting the supply of rare earth magnets used in wind farming. What will we do when those are no longer available?
Nuclear power is the only clean energy, but it comes with other risks, including espionage using spent rods for nefarious purposes.
That coal does not sound so bad when you see the 30,000-foot view instead of the view from the ground.
The amenity kits are a waste, I never use them.
I could totally see myself doing this. I very rarely need, nor care for, the meals offered in business class. They usually suck, and most of the time it’s far too late (for example the breakfast on an 830 AM flight, which is not ecen served until 9ish… I already obviously had to eat *sommetime* since the 630AM time I woke up to get to the airport, and that’s usually in the lounge. Idea of me waiting for the crappy plan breakfast is laughable).
If they served food like they used to, they could control the waste and cost variables. People need to eat and I’m not even talking about for life saving medical reasons (diabetes)! JAL idea is dangerous at the bare minimum!
I think it’s a great idea. It’s also a respect for the people who are making the meals. It’s not a computer that is cooking. I recently watched the video on a JAL flight how the famous chefs came to create their meals on board.. It was fascinating. They put a lot of efforts into the meals offered. You should watch it before complaining about cost saving.
Gary, sorry, I feel you missed the mark on this one by quite a bit.
1) LOGICAL FALLACY
With “If A then B” “If not A then not B” does not inherently follow.
e.g., just because option A is ethical, does not mean that not choosing option A = not ethical.
2) LANGUAGE CONSIDERATIONS
Come on man. We all know that a lot of Asian marketing campaigns simply don’t translate well into English, both because of linguistic and cultural complexities.
3) ZOMG AMAZING FOOD ON PLANES IS OVERRATED
As a former frequent-international-traveler for work, it seemed that most of us more experienced folks realized that getting a good night’s sleep in a comfortable flat bed >>>>> caring deeply about food in Biz or First which, sure, is better than Economy but rarely if ever as good as fine dining on the ground.
4) OPT-IN vs. OPT-OUT
And for cryin’ out loud, this campaign to enable people to OPTIONALLY indicate they don’t want a meal is… 1) optional 2) opt-in, not opt-out.
I just don’t get the snark here.
JL meals are unethically bad, like many airlines.
“The ethical part might be a shaming technique leading one to feel guilty.” that might work on someone who cared about what they were trying to do but there won’t be any guilt if you could give a rats a$$.
Oh boy. It took me seconds to google the background of the ethical part. If you use that option, JAL will donate something to an organization to help others. So you can use this to do a good deed. Imagine researching for an article for more than 5 seconds.
Why don’t they come up with a donation plan – every-time a passenger pre-selects not to have a meal – donate 5 meals to poor people in Africa or Bangladesh or somewhere … then it’s actually self less for the airline and the person choosing.
Skipping a meal will save money for the airlines. How about refunding to the passenger the amount OR give a discount on tickets with NO meal.
In the past, I have informed the flight crew that I prefer not to have a meal. No problem.
Cost saving, marketing gimmick, strategic initiatives, ESG, whatever the jellybeans you call it, it is a business decision.