JohnnyUMF

I think that on a 6 hour flight there could be more than 1 beverage service. Even if it pains one to admit that, there is no need to have trash around, which I have often seen. FA's are on the plane for safety, as its part of thier work, but so isnt tidying up the cabin and refilling drinks.

r3guru

[QUOTE=FWAAA Fares need to go up[/QUOTE]

or labor costs need to go down perhaps.

Fares on my most frequented routes are already very very high and loads are very good, look at how P fares are selling, and how much revenue thru additional charges are being generated.

I experienced lack of drinkr service on the shorter DFW-LAX flights some time ago, see this thread

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/showt...ght=dehydrated

salut0

If you want to deposit your trash you can also walk to the back of the plane and give it to the flight attendants. It gives you some exercise too. Not to say that they shouldn't come round more than once with a trash bag, but it is possible to do it yourself too.

AA53

Delta pilots authorized strike today. Liquidation is always a possibility and would be good for the industry as fares would go up unless another low cost carrier filled the gaps which could happen with a lucrative hub like ATL.

rrgg

I realize you asked to keep the whole can... but I think if you just got up later and asked for a 2nd drink you would get it.

shadesofgrey1x

I agree this really is pushing the limits. I think that AA should implement a new wAAste disposAAl fee, for passengers who bring their own food to recoup the cost of hauling the extrAA trash around from Mcdonalds and help them recoup the cost of the extra febreeze they have to buy to get rid of the horrible smell.

Maybe if enough of us write AA they will implement it. I think if we can get AA to charge an extra fee for passengers who bring their own food, it will not be long until the other airlines copy it.


Anyone want to start a thread for PAX who want to write to AA about this?

Peatisback

I'd be interested to know the actual cost of catering per passenger, including the cost of the actual food/drink, cost of fuel needed to carry the extra weight, etc. I'm just shooting in the dark, but could this be more than $5-15/per person? And if it turns out to be so low, would it make a difference if fares were increased this small amount to cover it?

I know a lot of people would say that it is absurd to pay that much money for a can of coke and a snack or maybe a wrap, but I think there are still a fair number of people who might perceive this as an added value and sway them to fly with AA..

FWAAA

If fares could be magically increased "this small amount to cover it," don'tcha think that AA would have already done so?

As for per-pax catering cost averages, those numbers don't really tell us anything, since very few pax still get meals while everyone still gets most non-alcoholic beverages. My WAG is that a can of soda that I can buy for $0.25 at Ralph's is about $1.00 all-in onboard an airplane (including the delivery to the airplane, the ice, the plastic or glass cups, etc.). The Skychefs or GateGourmet driver doesn't deliver that stuff for free.

The per-person average for meals is probably north of $25 or $30 each in J or F and at least $10 in coach (on those international flights still featuring coach meals).

Peatisback

That's exactly what I'm getting at. Considering all the other sophisticated analysis they do for things like yield management, etc., I'm almost surprised they haven't come up with some way of doing this.

Philoj

I think the problem is the travel websites. I mentioned this in another thread, but an airline would be wise to encourage Travelocity (the "Roaming Gnome" ads) to increase visibility into passenger amenities in their site. The first move would be for Travelocity to buy seatguru...

Right now, searching for a fare is a "find me the cheapest" proposition, with the presumption (catered to by the airlines out of necessity) that coach seats are fungible. MRTC probably failed because internet search engines didn't do anything to raise awareness as to *why* AA fares were worth it.

If airline searches were more like hotel searches, so those with a bit more folding money could see some value for the increased fare (like UA's "E+"), then airlines could probably raise fares in parts of the cabin.

Looking at it another way - why not follow UA's lead and have three-cabin service - F, E+, and steerage? E+ doesn't have to be like international business - just increase the pitch a bit, add more space between seats, provide a little more service, add in-flight entertainment (if that's what people want)... Advertise heavily and get Travelocity & Co to cater towards "find me more comfortable seats" searches...

It's doable, but you have to think outside the box. I'm not gonna hold my breath.

olimaspecto

Exactly correct. Even if it did only cost $10 for AA to include a meal etc, that means they would need to be $10 more expensive than a carrier not offering that and the advertising starts saying: "With us you get a meal with them you don't" then people will want to buy the chepeast ticket. And, even if people did know that AA was $10 more expensive because you got a meal, etc. I think that a lot of people woudl still buy on another carrier if the ticket was cheaper.

Blumie

This has been demonstrated over and over again. AA tried MRTC, and discovered that people wouldn't pay more for it. AA served meals long after the LCCs came on the scene with no meals, and people wouldn't pay more for it. So I don't think it's as simple as raising prices by $10 and making sure that passengers know that they're going to get a meal for those extra dollars.

olimaspecto

I totally agree.

Peatisback

It's really funny- sometimes when searching for fares on travelocity, they put up the AA logo with 'MORE ROOM' in caps and bold below it.... I guess it took them a while to find about MRTC. Maybe someone should tell them it's no longer around?

FWAAA

I agree as well. I still want some of those things, and have long advocated a completely ala carte approach. Wanna beverage? Get out a dollar or your credit card. Wanna meal? Order it on the website 24 hours in advance, prepay at that time with a credit card, and enjoy a discount over the "order on the plane price." Flight cancel/change/standby for different flight? We'll credit you with half the price as a refund.

Want more room in coach? Pay $x in advance for a seat in those rows there (along with a non-cancellable middle seat block). UA really did have the right idea with E+ and unfortunately, September 11 and the resulting financial storm intervened to cloud the numbers on MRTC, making it impossible to tell whether or not it worked.