Originally Posted by
phatom701
UA should include hot meals as one of their choices. It's not that difficult compared to sandwiches/salads. The only additional step is probably to heat up the meal.
But to heat the meal, you need an oven, which many of the planes don't have due to the weight they add, and thus the additional cost in fuel. There are ovens in first, but I'm presuming these are only large enough to handle F.
Hot food also has the disadvantage that you can't re-use it if it doesn't sell. Once it's been heated, you've got no choice to throw it out, where salads/etc can be kept for later flights if not sold.
Add up the costs and you'd probably end up having to sell the meals at a cost that people wouldn't pay.
Originally Posted by
phatom701
And take it even a step further, perhaps they could also include the option to allow economy passengers on international flights to upgrade to better meal options.
They started this as a trial. You could pre-order a different meal for an additional cost. Not sure what ended up happening to it.