A little late for lunch, but....
"Air fares are 2 percent higher than a year ago, but motorists will catch a small break — gasoline is $3.44 per gallon, down 15 cents from Labor Day 2013, according to AAA. Nine leading US carriers earned $3.8 billion in the first half of this year — up from $1.6 billion a year ago — allowing them to pay down debt, reward shareholders, and order new planes. Those airlines are running profit margins of 5 percent. Airlines are making record profits even as more and more flights are late or never take off. In the first half of 2014, US airlines posted their worst on-time rate since 2008 and the highest cancellation rate since 2000, according to government figures. The airline group’s economist, John Heimlich, told reporters on a conference call that bad weather was the biggest factor in delays and cancellations. He said that despite difficult weather and high federal taxes, ‘‘the airlines have coped very well.’’
I would say record profits is coping rather well, yeah, the poor, excuse-making, elite-$erving airlines.
Meanwhile, back in coach:
"United lures top fliers with promise of a hot meal" by Scott Mayerowitz | Associated Press August 22, 2014
NEW YORK — To win the hearts of frequent business travelers, United Airlines is going through their stomachs.
The carrier has been looking to woo back some top fliers who defected to other carriers after a rocky merger with Continental Airlines. So, it is upgrading first class food options and replacing snacks with full meals on some of its shortest flights.
The changes, announced Thursday, mean that instead of potato chips, chocolate chip cookies, and bananas, passengers on flights of at least 800 miles will get meals such as chicken and mozzarella on a tomato focaccia roll and turkey and Swiss cheese on a cranberry baguette. Currently, meals are only served on flights of 900 miles or more — trips that usually last close to two hours.
Passengers on 106 extra daily flights, spread over 13 routes such as Houston-to-Des Moines, will be getting full meal service starting in February.
The move comes as American Airlines goes the other way, eliminating hot meals on most flights less than 1,000 miles starting Sept. 1. The change — which upset many frequent fliers — is part of American’s merger with US Airways and does expand meals to some US Airways flights that previously only had snacks. Delta Air Lines serves first-class meals on flights of more than 900 miles.
That means United will offer full meals on more short flights than its competitors, although each airline makes exceptions for some key shorter business routes like the 731-mile trip between New York and Chicago.
United replaced two bland salad options this month with four heartier choices. Starting Sept. 1, three frozen and reheated sandwiches will be replaced by eight sandwich and wrap choices made daily.
‘‘Customers shouldn’t have to make sacrifices just because they are onboard an aircraft,’’ said Todd Traynor-Corey, the airline’s managing director of food design.
That might be true, but in an industry known for its razor-thin profit margins, food has always been a target of cost-cutting. With US airlines carrying 645 million passengers domestically each year, every little food decision had big implications. In the 1980s, American Airlines chief executive Robert Crandall famously decided to remove a single olive from every salad. The thought was: passengers would not notice and American would save $40,000 a year.
It has been a decade since most airlines stopped serving free meals in coach on domestic flights.
Dennis Cary, an airline consultant with ICF International, said meals alone will not drive passengers to one airline over another, but can help leave a better impression of a flight.
‘‘It’s on the margin,’’ Cary says, ‘‘but it’s one of the things people like to talk about.’’
United has been struggling since its 2010 merger with Continental.
A hot meal on a two-hour flight might not sound like a necessity, but for busy frequent fliers it might be the only chance to grab a bite.
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It's all bu$ine$$ now:
"Michael Friedman, an airline analyst at Delaware Investments in Boston, referred to Cathay Pacific as the “Four Seasons of airlines.” “The service levels and the in-flight experience is dramatically different than all of their competitors,” Friedman said. First and business class seats reclined into fully flat positions. Cathay Pacific airplanes are equipped with rice cookers, toasters, and skillets to serve made-to-order breakfasts and hot rice with meals to first class passengers. The company recently partnered with the Mandarin Oriental Hotel Group to offer a foie gras terrine with winter truffle, smoked salmon with crabmeat and caviar, and other fine dining options created by the hotel’s acclaimed chefs on flights between Hong Kong and London. “It’s a game-changer for Logan,” Friedman said. “Anytime Boston can land a major city like this, especially a major carrier, is a coup for the airport.”
I thought it said coup at the airport.
Also see: Playing catch up with the airlines, hotels get fee-happy
It's one rea$on why I never go anywhere.
