Under normal circumstances, you would eat a meal every five to six hours, right? Say seven in the morning before school or work, again at Noon, and dinner around six or seven.
And normally, airlines respected that on long-haul flights by serving two meals - a breakfast and lunch, or lunch and dinner, or dinner and breakfast on overnight flights.
Not anymore.
British Airways last month decided to "downsize" its meal service on some long-haul flights, and it's just the latest in a long line of complaints about passengers being squeezed out of even more money by ancillary fees.
What started with charging for bags has become a cottage industry now for airlines. Some airlines now charge for:
• Second bags and beyond
• Carry-on bags
• Overweight bags
• Reservation fees
• Picking your seat
• Changing your seat
• Sitting all together with family
• Headsets
• Boxed meals
• Fees for transporting pets
• Fees for minor children traveling alone
And so on, and so on, and so on.
The British Airways decision is just the latest, but this one was like a slap in the face. The airline that claims to fly with civility now has a new rule. Economy and premium economy passengers flying BA to and from the U.S. and Canada will receive a fun-size chocolate candy bar or other snack - read: the size of snack you get when trick-or-treating on Halloween - instead of a second meal later in their journey.
The menu change impacts economy passengers on flights lasting under eight and a half hours and premium economy passengers on flights that take less than seven hours.
Gee, how coincidental. It takes about seven-and-a-half hours of flight time to go from London to New York. I suppose you could hope for a 90-minute delay in the air to get that second meal but, in all likelihood, British Airways won't be carrying all that food anyway now.
This reminds me of one of my favorite movies, the original "Wall Street," when young Bud Fox learns that corporate financier Gordon Gekko is about to break up BlueStar Airlines. "How much is enough? Fox asks. "How many more yachts do you have to buy to water ski behind?"
The airlines continue to shoot themselves in the foot over the most picayune things, and yet, at least for the big three U.S. airlines, they continue to deny that service is an issue when it comes to choosing American, Delta and United vs. the Gulf carriers of Emirates, Etihad and Qatar.
It's the little things that win over customers. We know that washer and dryer are expensive - saying you'll deliver it for free is a nice little added touch. We know that car is expensive - throwing in free oil changes and a car wash is a nice little added touch. We know that airline ticket, and your bag fee, and your reservation fee, and seat assignment fee, are expensive - but adding a second freeze-dried meal is a nice little added touch.
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