Originally Posted by
ftnoob
That has always struck me as colossally stupid. Yes, actual flight times vary quite a bit, but base it on block time, not miles. Check some of the differences in flight times for flying east versus flying west: same miles, but flying west takes much longer.
I don't know the exact rationale behind this on WN but meal service on most carriers (including domestic F on the legacies) is based on miles. I understand your point about the time difference but then you may also end up with service inconsistencies on the same route. Let's say an eastbound transcon is blocked 3:45 and the return is blocked 4:45. If the meal service transition point is at 4 hours then the outbound has a different service level than the return. Additionally, block times can change based on many factors including the season, the added taxi time for heavy traffic airports, etc and may vary greatly from flying time. You could easily have the same flight, in the same direction, that would have different service levels at different times of the year.
Thus, there is some logic to have service levels based on mileage.