United Puts First Class, Business Travelers on Diet

Starting today, lots of United's frequent fliers are going to notice that the airline is doing something completely differently. Rather, the airline is not doing something: feeding them the customary decent meal, in first- and business-class seats. [It should be noted that United has simultaneously reduced its top fares by as much as 40% --ed.]

With so many of UAL's high-fare passengers' doing something else lately, it's become an easier decision to make. As recently as 1999, USA Today reported, "...United got 41% of its domestic revenue from the 22% of passengers who paid first-class, business-class or unrestricted coach fares. That group accounted for 10% of United's passengers and 20% of domestic revenue in the same quarter last year."

Here's when you won't be gettin' any:

• First Class and Business Class travelers who are traveling at non-traditional feeding times will not get fed. If you're not traveling at "normal" breakfast, lunch, or dinner times, you'll be getting a drink, not a meal.
• Even if you're slated to get a meal, don't count on a hot lunch or dinner, unless you're on a coast-to-coast flight. "Salad or sandwich?" is the new customer-service mantra. That's for those high-fare PAX.
• If you're one of those low-fare PAX, even between Hawaii and the West Coast, your customary sandwich has been eliminated.
• If you're a coach passenger on a two to 3 1/2-hour flight, you'll skip the hot breakfast, and get a "snack mix."

United, of course, isn't the first premium airline to cut meal perqs. As it slogs through its bankruptcy reorganization plan, it's looking for ways to visibly cut costs. Whether its high-fare PAX will value their grumbling bellies more than their accumulated flier miles, remains to be seen. [In that way, as well, this could be classified as a 'gutsy move' --ed.]

If this plan doesn't yield the desired results, United has other options, short of giving food away. One, starting at US Airways (also in Chapter 11), involves making those meals again available, but at a price. That defrays the cost of the meal, while allowing the traveler the option of paying for what he's getting.

FMI: www.ual.com