Originally Posted by
channa
If it means that CO can raise the quality of its meals so that they're like what DL, UA, US, etc. sell, then it'll probably be a net positive.
Right now it's turkey dog or nothing. The first time they served me one of those, I knew it was time to go BOB.
I haven't found the BoB meals of these carriers to be appealing in any way. Way overpriced small bready sandwiches or snack boxes. On my NW flights, I can't recall more than a handful of sales.
I'd prefer to see CO raise the bar and go after the VX model. Since LiveTV is going to end up in most of the fleet, and the devices already have credit card readers built-in, I'd rather see them emulate the VX menu (reasonably priced, large portions, healthy options and variety) and sales strategy - tout the goods on the TV screen and allow customers to order for seat-side delivery at any time after the beverage cart finishes its first pass.
They have a built-in marketing device which sits inches away from every customer's face - right now it just endlessly loops a promo for LiveTV. They could leverage unsold screens to tout BoB food, upscale beverages (isn't everyone sick of 'beer, wine and margaritas' by now?) and other services.
I'm open to certain changes - but I still fear Jeff's approach to the problem (extracting more revenue per available seat mile) will be to strip cost out of the product until that side of the equation better reflects the revenue he's accustomed to seeing. The VX approach seeks to enhance the revenue side.
Another option - restrict exit row and bulkhead seats for pre-assignment to CO Plats/Golds/Silvers, then "sell" the unclaimed seats during OLCI for a higher up-charge - and include free LiveTV, a complimentary selection from the BoB menu and EliteAccess for that flight segment. VX extracts a premium of $100 (and ofter much more) for their exit row and bulkhead seats which are nothing more than the same coach seat with a tad more legroom, free BoB food, free TV and reserved overhead space.
That illustrates the difference between those who lead by thinking outside the box (i.e. Gordon) and those who follow by staring at balance sheets and just slashing perceived 'excess' (Anderson, Mullin, etc.)