Delta Asks Business Class Passengers To Consider Skipping Meals, For The Environment

by Gary Leff

Nov 05 2022

Delta Air Lines has added an option for business class passengers to “Skip First Meal Service” as part of their pre-selections for on board service. Customers fying long haul in the ‘Delta One’ cabin might choose Trout, non-meat Meatballs, chicken breast or to skip the meal. That is described as having an environmental benefit, to “help[..] reduce food waste.”

The airline’s business class passengers, booking the least expensive business class ‘Z’ fare roundtrips on a route like Detroit to Seoul, are currently spending over $8000 roundtrip. And the airline is asking them to help save money on catering bills.

Continue Reading »

Passengers Suffer Miserable Airport Food While Politicians Take Cash From Vendors

by Gary Leff

Nov 05 2022

Airport concessions companies suck. Most of the restaurants you think you’re eating at aren’t actually run by the people you think they are. The brands are licensed by airport concessions companies like OTG, Delaware North, and HMSHost. When a brand wants to do something that’s actually good they even advise against it.

Yet St. Louis is about to demand another decade of mediocrity in a long-term no-bid deal with major political donors.

Continue Reading »

Woke United Airlines Suspends Twitter Ads

by Gary Leff

Nov 05 2022

I have no idea what the future holds for Twitter. It was a bloated laggard under CEO Parag Agrawal and before. Musk is blowing things up, and that will either go very well or very badly. But it will be more interesting and more focal for awhile in either case. It seems like a mistake to walk away rather than to be a part of it, at least a little bit even if you’re hedging your bets elsewhere int he meantime.

Continue Reading »

Passenger Carjacks Multiple People After Hearing His Flight Is Cancelled

by Gary Leff

Nov 04 2022

Travel is frustrating. We’ve all been there. Long lines to get through security, not enough staff at airport concessions. You can’t even get into the club because too many other customers have access. You’re delayed, the crew time out, and you finally learn you aren’t getting where you’re going. It’s enough to make you…

Oh, wait. No, it doesn’t cause you to do anything like this.

Continue Reading »

A James Beard Award Now Signals ‘Good Enough For Airline Catering’

by Gary Leff

Nov 04 2022

When Danny Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group started popping up in airports and putting its brand on Delta Air Lines meals I suggested it was trading its name and accepting lower quality. It had a brand to cash out on, but the brand meant less as a result. This is going to be true for any chef who enters an airport or licenses their name to an airline – except for Rick Bayless.

For an airline, branding with a chef’s name can signal their investment in food. For a brand, that it no longer cares about quality.

Continue Reading »

Marriott Markets Your Memory Of 9/11 Back To You – For A Hefty Upcharge

by Gary Leff

Nov 04 2022

In 2013 the San Diego Marriott Mission Valley found its own way of remembering 9/11: 30 minutes of free mini-muffins for guests. I remember thinking at the time at least it wasn’t a Marriott in Manhattan. Context matters, and surely New Yorkers wouldn’t trivialize the event.

Only the Marriott New York Downtown now takes the memory of 9/11 and sells it back to us – at a hefty markup – in the form of a 9/11 Remembrance Package for weekend stays.

Continue Reading »