FlyerTalk Forums - View Single Post - Discussion of the Quality of UA's In-Flight Meals
Old Feb 14, 2020, 3:45 am
  #155  
lhrsfo
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Originally Posted by dilanesp
It's worth remembering that United gives people far more food than anyone needs in 5 hours on those flights, plus includes the UC in the ticket meaning even more food is available.
I think that this important statement makes two separate points.

First, given a set catering budget, UA goes for quantity over quality. On the short flights it would be perfectly acceptable to offer smaller quantities of higher quality food.

Second, the catering on TATL flights from the East Coast doesn't seem to be significantly different that that from the West Coast flights: a massive dinner followed by a large breakfast. Presumably the budget for both is the same, and so the formula is the same: why? A West Coast flight departing at, say, 6pm will have people on board who have not had dinner yet, whereas one departing the East Coast at 10pm will have people who will, by and large, have already eaten. A flight landing in Europe at 6am will have people on board who mostly just want to sleep to the bitter end and they can pick up breakfast on arrival, whereas one landing at noon will have people who need to have something to sustain them until they get into town for lunch.

The issue is that UA doesn't really think about passengers and customers when it plans its premium meals, and that's before you even go into the whole debate about what can feasibly be served from a galley, and what tastes good at 36,000 feet.
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