Originally Posted by
Often1
3. The question of why a carrier can serve two meals on a TATL and 0 meals (in steerage) on a TCON of close to the same length or HI which is longer simply has to do with fares. Without getting into the occasional discount, take a look at the fare difference and you'll see what the meal costs.
That is bogus. Have you ever seen TATL fares? I just did a search on USAir for PHX-LGW and PHX-HNL. While the London fare was about £200 more expensive, the taxes were £150 more than the HNL flight. Plus, PHX to London is SUBSTANTIALLY further than PHX to HNL.
The reason that they don't serve meals is because they don't have to. People don't due their research, and don't care about bags or anything that is included. People take whichever option has the cheapest base fare and never actually calculate costs. If UA decided to charge £10 more on the ORD-HNL flight but include a hot meal, most passengers would take the £10 cheaper AA flight, and not even think twice.
If all of the airlines offered a meal/snack on the HNL flights and priced to match, passengers would be none the wiser. But then, the airlines wouldn't sell as much food because the passengers would be less willing to open their wallets and would be less willing to buy alcohol when they have free food, and can thus make the whole flight without opening the wallet. But as it is, you need to buy food, so why not buy a bottle of wine or gin and tonic to go with it?