I find this to be an absolutely normal practice. I would rather pay extra and get an actually nice meal in coach (luckily I have not been in coach for a while now, but from the commentaries of friend flying coach and purchasing the food the food is quite good) then having no meal at all.

Most airlines have done away with service free meals in coach, and if thats what they have to do to survive, let it be it. Continental and Midwest Express are the only ones left outthere that would still serve some kind of snack to coach pax on the longer routes (not to count something mysterious in those AA BAAgs and Delta's SkyDeli), and after I saw the free "cheeseburger" CO offered I wished they would just offer something else for sale.

Overall i find the sale of meals in coach to be absolutely appropriate on flights under 4 hours.

PS By the way, Northwest IS my favourite US airline, and I consistantly find them to be more customer friendly when compared to competition.

[This message has been edited by asnovici (edited 08-04-2003).]

[This message has been edited by asnovici (edited 08-04-2003).]