Originally Posted by magiclamp
I used to be able to order a special meal on AS coast to coast flights till end of 2004. I haven't travelled coast for this year till this week. I called AS for my IAD-SEA flight and requested a veg meal and I was told that they didn't do special meals anymore and the agent didn't know when they stopped doing it. Any idea when this happened?
I understand that airlines are trying to cut costs, but I am not sure I understand how going against the special meals is going to cut significant costs. I am little peeved because everybody else gets to eat and I don't.
Am I expecting too much here? I love AS and their people and living in SEA I don't have much of a choice in airlines and what little choice I have I don't like.
Will writing to AS help? your thoughts?
Special meals were cut because it was a significant cost savings. In order to be able to continue food service of any kind we had to figure out ways to cut costs while still serving food people would like to eat. I would say that at least 50% of the time people that ordered special meals were not on board and the food was wasted. Probably 30-40% of the time, the person ordering the special meal thought they could decide whether they would eat the special meal or the meal for everyone else. A percentage of people order them so they are sure to have a choice on board.
I'm sure that many people have legitimate dietary needs and would appreciate a special snack. These days, food is not a "feature" on an airplane. If a snack is offered at all, I have to think that it's a bonus, since most airlines don't serve anything and most people don't expect anything. We try to cater to the larger number of people and after much consideration, on the part of our catering department, it was decided that eliminating special meals was a change that we could make to affect the bottom line without impacting the majority of our customers.