Food For Sale

[FA Mikey]

Now available on flights from Dallas to Miami and St Louis. Cash or credit open 1 hour prior to departure.

Menu LSG Sky Chefs In-flight Cafe Menu Selections

Breakfast

-- Cream Cheese Streusel Muffin, Fruit Salad,

Honey Wheat Croissant, Yogurt and Bottled Water

-- Breakfast Croissant Sandwich, Yogurt Parfait,

Triple Berry Mix and Bottled Water

$7 each

Lunch/Dinner

-- Roast Beef and Cheddar Sandwich, Vinaigrette Potato Salad,

Horseradish Sauce, Heath Crunch Cookie and Bottled Water

-- California Cobb Salad, Cabernet Dressing, Pita Snack'n Pocket,

Heath Crunch Cookie and Bottled Water

$10 each

I would have to be awfully hungry to pay that much for what they are describing. I am guessing as part of the test the Miami and St Louis flights will not be located close to any of the large food courts. Test program runs through October.

 

[jimntx]

How are they able to do it, period--regardless of distance from the food courts? It's my understanding that the airport food vendors at DFW said not only no but hell no when approached by AA to do same there.

Also, at those prices, you could get food from the airport vendors for less. At MIA, I can't imagine anyone buying a Sky Chef sandwich when La Carreta is in the same building. One of the things I miss most from being furloughed is Cuban sandwiches with black beans and rice (lime and onion on top). Can't find a decent Cuban place in Dallas.

 

[FA Mikey]

AA pretty much has always had its way at DFW. I would take the DFW food variety anyday over that crappy cuban attitude that abounds at the La Carreta [spanish for food with an attitude, and no refunds for hair in your food] Its that or pizza hut, burger king, or CA pizza kitchen. Miami sucks for food.

 

[AAmech]

How are they able to do it, period--regardless of distance from the food courts? It's my understanding that the airport food vendors at DFW said not only no but hell no when approached by AA to do same there.

Also, at those prices, you could get food from the airport vendors for less. At MIA, I can't imagine anyone buying a Sky Chef sandwich when La Carreta is in the same building. One of the things I miss most from being furloughed is Cuban sandwiches with black beans and rice (lime and onion on top). Can't find a decent Cuban place in Dallas.

Why would the food courts have any say in it? And I too ate at la Carreta and thought it was pretty darn good. But don't ask any of the servers a question if your not Bi-lingual.

 

[FWAAA]

I have had the roast beef sandwich - not too bad (and well worth the $10).

Why buy it instead of the food court food? When your inbound flight is late arriving at DFW, must park for half an hour before being granted clearance to cross the active runways - and your gate is occupied, but your outbound connecting flight is on time (departing from the other end of the airport), then food available at the gate (or even better yet, on the d@mn plane) is sometimes the only option. Often, I have no spare time at all to hunt down the food court and stand in line - I have to run like OJ to avoid missing my connecting flights.

But if you have an hour or two between flights, then I agree, Dickey's BBQ is a better option.

I've posted it before, and I'll say it again. I'd gladly pay cash (are you listening, AA??) for seconds when I'm seated in F and really hungry. And when F is full and I'm in Y (it happens), I'd gladly pay cash for a large First Class Meal.

Are you listening, AA? I'm waving money here and Lord knows AA needs the cash. B)

 

[jimntx]

AAMech wrote:
Why would the food courts have any say in it? And I too ate at la Carreta and thought it was pretty darn good. But don't ask any of the servers a question if your not Bi-lingual.

The food vendors get a say because they pay HUGE amounts of money to the Airport Operating Authority--DFW or any other station--for the privilege of selling food within the airport terminal. The contracts they sign give the AOA a cut of every soft drink or food item they sell. The contracts give the vendor a non-compete clause in return. Have you ever noticed that an airport that has a McDonald's does not have a Burger King? A Chili's, but not a Bennigans?

The vendors accept the fact that a customer may not buy from them because the airline is going to provide him/her with a meal as part of the ticket, but when the airline starts SELLING food in the airport terminal in direct competition with the vendor, it seems to me that the non-compete clause has been violated.

Remeber the airline does not own the terminal. The airline is a tenant, just as the food vendors are.

 

[FA Mikey]

I am sure AA could argue that this is less competition than before, when many flights offered a free meal on board. People are still more likely to by from a traditional food vender than waiting to see if something is going to be offered for sale prior to departure.

 

[wrx]

What a joke! Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and everything else is available in the airport. Why spend $7-10 on that junk from LSG, when you can get something better for less! It's to bad In N Out Burger doen't have stores in the airports!


B.Y.O.F. = Bring Your Own Food

 

[jimntx]

What a joke! Taco Bell, Burger King, McDonald's, Pizza Hut and everything else is available in the airport. Why spend $7-10 on that junk from LSG, when you can get something better for less! It's to bad In N Out Burger doen't have stores in the airports!


B.Y.O.F. = Bring Your Own Food

I agree that food is available. My problem is, and always has been, that there is a shortage in airports of HEALTHY food at a reasonable cost. For the most part at DFW, you have your choice of high-fat, high-sodium, or a combo of the two. But, that is another thread, I guess.

I know that AA is not the first airline to sell food, but I think we are the first to sell in the terminal prior to boarding. I'll be really surprised if the traditional food vendors roll over on this.

AA wants to have its cake and eat it too. By selling in the terminal (and, do we know if AA will handle the sales or some minimum wage folk hired by LSG Sky Chefs), they avoid the cost of transporting the food, doing the accounting for the money, and "eating" the cost of unsold food. AND, most importantly, there is no chance that some evil, dishonest flight attendant will eat an unsold roast beef sandwich and not pay for it! I mean, they are already drinking the sodas for free!

 

[formeraa]

C'mon, now! The real reason for selling meals at the gate is the variable manning part of the FA contract. I don't know if it was dropped as part of the BK avoidance renegotiation. However, if snacks were sold on the aircraft, more FA's would be required.

That is why the passengers have to pick up Bistro Bags. That way, AA can have minimum staffing. The TWA FA's used to distribute their Bistro Bags on the plane, which I thought was a nice touch.

Nobody (even AA management) is thinking that FA's are going to steal the meals. If they are sold in the gate area, unsold snacks can simply be moved to the next flight. In addition, if they run short of snacks, they can simply have someone bring some over from the next gate. If they load the snacks on the plane, they may end up throwing some away or running out.

 

[BostonTerrier]

Ughh, the issues of BOB meals.

Well, from a stew at US, here's a little run-down on the way it was handled for us.

1. All hot meals have been eliminated, with the exception of transatlantic.

2. Under our F/A agreement, only flights that provide "hot meals" will have additional flight attendants; therefore, all U flights in the domestic US are now at minimum staffing, even though we have to sell up to 80 meals per leg (usually much less). No meals are provided in coach anywhere in the domestic U market.

3. LSG claims to dump the meals after each flight (although I've tasted a muffin or two that tasted like it had taken one too many west coast turns...pure speculation).

4. F/As are subject to a meal "audit" upon arrival, although this is done on a rather infrequent basis.

5. Customer reaction has been mixed, although the company claims it is a triumph.

6. The net result, the MOST IMPORTANT EFFECT, has been that our ranks have been slashed with the change in onboard staffing.

BTW, imagine telling a pax flying FCO-PHL-SEA that they have to pay for a lame box meal on hour 14 of their journey.

Hopefully customer feedback will quell this trend to only 3 hour hops.


Best to all.

 

[jimntx]

Ughh, the issues of BOB meals.

Well, from a stew at US, here's a little run-down on the way it was handled for us.

1. All hot meals have been eliminated, with the exception of transatlantic.

2. Under our F/A agreement, only flights that provide "hot meals" will have additional flight attendants; therefore, all U flights in the domestic US are now at minimum staffing, even though we have to sell up to 80 meals per leg (usually much less). No meals are provided in coach anywhere in the domestic U market.

3. LSG claims to dump the meals after each flight (although I've tasted a muffin or two that tasted like it had taken one too many west coast turns...pure speculation).

4. F/As are subject to a meal "audit" upon arrival, although this is done on a rather infrequent basis.

5. Customer reaction has been mixed, although the company claims it is a triumph.

6. The net result, the MOST IMPORTANT EFFECT, has been that our ranks have been slashed with the change in onboard staffing.

BTW, imagine telling a pax flying FCO-PHL-SEA that they have to pay for a lame box meal on hour 14 of their journey.

Hopefully customer feedback will quell this trend to only 3 hour hops.


Best to all.

Thanks Boston Terrier, I needed the laugh tonight though I know the resulting furloughs are not a laughing matter (I'm a furloughee myself). But the part about 'splaining to the FCO-PHL-SEA passenger that he had to BUY his happy meal! I just got the most wonderful mental image of that passenger's face--textbook incredulity. Particularly if he ate anywhere beside McDonald's while in Rome.

Oh, and as to the multi-transcon muffin. I'll have you know that the caterers have spent thousands on research to produce a muffin that is stale when it comes out of the oven. They've had them in the AA happy meals for years!