In the US, marketing surveys determined that pax opted for lower fares and no food service on domestic short hauls in steerage. Over time, that grew to the elimination of an included meal on all domestic (coach).

This was largely the product of large businesses, which move the market, requiring "lowest fare" booking. In many companies' booking engines, beating a competitor's fare by US$1 may be the determinant. That is true even for companies which then reimburse the traveling employee for the purchase of a meal costing many times that.