Originally Posted by
kthomas
Yeah. I just haven't seen the consistency described above. Spacing is in general not optimal for sleep; why are you waking me 90 minutes out not 45? and it seems "operational" reasons can delay the first meal quite a bit.
And that's KL/AF. AM last week served within 15 minutes of takeoff, which was actually good (hot meal not warmed onboard etc), but threw me off in terms of schedule, as I had people to reply to etc.
( At least it wasn't the hamburgerthey served down to Buenos Aires a few years ago! )
Extending the grump: airlines don't seem to understand the business they are in. Everything should be timed and co-ordinated to get the PAX optimal sleep and comfort / delivery max value.
I'm still not entirely certain what you're getting at. It's irrelevant what other airlines like AM do if your question is about AF/KL, which I presume it is since you're posting it here.
You already have your answer about the service flow in long-haul C: the main meal soon after takeoff, another about 1:30-1:15 before arrival. You can't time your meal down to the minute, but you can reasonably expect the meal times to be this way. Of course, there are bound to be slight differences between flights, as factors like weather, crew efficiency, loads, etc do affect the service flow.
As for being woken up 90 mins before landing, I'm not sure that's even a valid complaint IMHO. That's a pretty standard timeframe for a pre-arrival meal.