As a collector of First Class menus and one who flew my 1000th flight by 1982, I well remember the days of hot, generally filling meals (even in Coach) on sectors as short as PDX-SFO. I miss them more than most. These days however, I'll gladly pack or buy a $7.00 airport meal while I enjoy those sub-$200.00 transcons and, as an MVP Gold, double mileage and complimentary upgrades - unheard of back in the fancy inflight service days of yesteryear.

I can't address EAS subsidies or things of that nature (because I really know very little about them) but as one who's flown over 3300 flights on 115 different airlines, I think Alaska offers, by today's US domestic standards, a pretty decent service.