Running out of BOB
Nov 2, 2014, 12:29 pm
#46
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 205
That would never work. Somebody put some thought into the nutritional content of MRE's. Therefore they are inappropriate as airline food.
You *might* allow them on the grounds that they are prepared for infantry in the field who will burn more calories in a day than I burn in a week.
You *might* allow them on the grounds that they are prepared for infantry in the field who will burn more calories in a day than I burn in a week.
Nov 2, 2014, 7:53 pm
#48
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 38,410
The issue isn't running out. It's running out that early on the aircraft.
Last edited by WineCountryUA; Nov 2, 2014 at 9:11 pm Reason: merging consecutive posts by same member - please use multi-quoting
Nov 2, 2014, 8:45 pm
#49
Join Date: Dec 2009
Location: Nashville, TN
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Nov 2, 2014, 9:22 pm
#51
Ambassador: Alaska Airlines
Original Poster
Join Date: Nov 2008
Location: BWI
Posts: 7,390
I would much rather see UA devote its efforts to a pre-order service where you have a decent selection, pay in advance and your meal is onboard. Conversely if you change flights for any reason, the meal is gone and you know in advance that you won't be fed and can make other arrangements.
Alternatively, carts at the gate which have 3-4 choices which can be purchased. These can easily be restocked and work well for those on the run.
Alternatively, carts at the gate which have 3-4 choices which can be purchased. These can easily be restocked and work well for those on the run.
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I indicated BOB meals in my OP, so fresh perishable food. The only thing that was left was non-perishable snack food (including some of the tapas boxes which aren't meals). So, yes you are right they did not run out of all buy on board options, but they ran out of the meal options.
Nov 2, 2014, 10:20 pm
#52
Join Date: Jun 2014
Posts: 261
Sorry for not getting back to you sooner. I indicated BOB meals in my OP, so fresh perishable food. The only thing that was left was non-perishable snack food (including some of the tapas boxes which aren't meals). So, yes you are right they did not run out of all buy on board options, but they ran out of the meal options.
Nov 2, 2014, 10:57 pm
#53
Join Date: Mar 2003
Location: SAN
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I would much rather see UA devote its efforts to a pre-order service where you have a decent selection, pay in advance and your meal is onboard. Conversely if you change flights for any reason, the meal is gone and you know in advance that you won't be fed and can make other arrangements.
Alternatively, carts at the gate which have 3-4 choices which can be purchased. These can easily be restocked and work well for those on the run.
Alternatively, carts at the gate which have 3-4 choices which can be purchased. These can easily be restocked and work well for those on the run.
Second idea would never happen. There are very political contracts between the airports vendors (theres usually only 1-2 despite how many "restaurants" there are). And aircraft catering is a totally seperate contract. There is an invisible line there for most hubs that cannot be crossed. So again, good idea in theory, but it wouldnt work...albeit for silly reasons.
Nov 2, 2014, 11:32 pm
#54
Join Date: May 2003
Location: Virginia
Posts: 1,558
Running out of BOB
At US you can preorder fresh meals but they aren't prepaid so you have the option of eating it or passing, in which case it gets put back into regular inventory for someone else. That system works pretty well.
Nov 3, 2014, 12:07 am
#55
Join Date: Oct 2006
Location: Long Beach, CA
Programs: AA PLTPRO, HH Diamond, IHG Plat, Marriott Plat, Hyatt Globalist
Posts: 3,559
Has this been going on for a long time? A couple of years ago, I had an LAX-PHL flight that was a mechanical delay of 3 hours. Then we were told that they hadn't catered enough BOB. So, not only was I stuck for 3 hours, but another 5 hour flight and all without any food. They sold out of everything. I can see difficulty in catering the right amount of perishables. But the non-perishable food? And this is on a flight that had a good percentage of people who left because of the certain misconnects in PHL due to the delay.
Nov 3, 2014, 3:45 pm
#58
Join Date: Oct 2014
Posts: 205
Nov 3, 2014, 3:51 pm
#59
Join Date: Apr 2003
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Posts: 2,756
SunLover
Nov 3, 2014, 4:21 pm
#60
Join Date: Jan 2000
Location: Canada
Programs: AS, DL, UA, Hyatt, SPG
Posts: 2,574
The issues with BOB at UA have been around forever, both pre and post merger.
ORD-HNL was infamous for the longest time for stocking only around a 30% ratio of the estimated Y pax load to fresh food and FA's used to hate working Y due to the inevitable anger from pretty much anyone seated doors 3 back.
IIRC, there was a deal at sometime whereby the caterer (Gate Gourmet?) was assuming both the risk (perishable unsold items) and profit. No idea what the current agreement is post merger.
Unfortunately, as with many things at UA, they either just don't care, or have to inept a management team to really do anything about it.
ORD-HNL was infamous for the longest time for stocking only around a 30% ratio of the estimated Y pax load to fresh food and FA's used to hate working Y due to the inevitable anger from pretty much anyone seated doors 3 back.
IIRC, there was a deal at sometime whereby the caterer (Gate Gourmet?) was assuming both the risk (perishable unsold items) and profit. No idea what the current agreement is post merger.
Unfortunately, as with many things at UA, they either just don't care, or have to inept a management team to really do anything about it.