Originally Posted by NickB

Well, if crew are going to have a hot meal,then it will necessarily have to go in the oven at the beginning of the flight. It would be pointless for the meal to arrive during the descent phase. To each their own, but I would rather have the pilots focus on something else than their lunch in the approach and landing phases of the flight .

The only issue is whether crew should be fed in flight on short segments or on the ground. If one accepts the former and one accepts that crews are going to get a hot meal even though pax don't, then it follows that it will be towards the beginning of the flight and I most certainly would not take this as a "slap-in-the-face."

Originally Posted by NickB

Crewing levels?
I must say that I do not quite see the point of drawing comparison with airlines in entirely different regions of the world operating under wholly different market conditions.

If the point is to show that there is no absolute impossibility on serving a three course hot meal on a narrow body if costs, especially staff costs, are not an issue, we already know that. We just need to remember what used to be the norm in years now gone by. If we now come down to the realities of European airline travel nowadays, what you are going to be served on any European airline for such a short sector length is not going to set the culinary world on fire, even among the better than average carriers such as LX.

If the point is to comment on the disingenuity of the argument put forward, fair enough. But then again, surely none of the regular FTers, especially not you, is going to be so naive and unsophisticated as to take airline spin at face value. That kind of language and justification is standard airline "enhancement" speak (or, to tell the truth, going much beyond the airline industry and typical of modern communication style with consumers by most large retail entities).