Bye, Bye Beverage Carts ?
 

Had a conversation with a FA last week who said she heard Delta was having conversation about eliminating the beverage carts. The plan would be to have the FA take the drink and food orders, and serve from the galley in coach, as they currently do in first.
Seemed like a good idea to me...the carts block the isles and the passengers seated in the isle would no longer be sprayed by cans opening.
Not sure if the info from the FA was accurate...has anyone else heard of this proposal?

Doesn't seem realistic to me.

That sounds crazy.. so the FAs would have to run back and forth deliviering drinks and food? On any aircraft that does not have a mid-section galley (almost all) it seems insane.

Not to mention the need to juggle the payment device and the F&B being served.

Depends on the plane size, and the diversity of choices. JetBlue does this with their express service, I believe. The key is just to limit the number of choices available, and what you sell onboard.

Well, this IS Delta, so convenience to the customer is hardly a factor. :( If anything, what would be driving it is the removal of the weight of the trolleys and the fuel cost savings if they just put in shelves instead.

Either way, I agree - on anything larger than a RJ, it is pretty impractical.

To say nothing of the catering issues.... sounds like a bad rumor to me.

Now on a 200 they might get away with it, but with the 200's hopefully going away....

<lol>

Bob H

Might be healthy for some of those plus-sized FAs to get a little more exercise running back and forth. On the other hand, since I usually sit in an aisle seat in E+, it likely means that I am going to be battered by oversized derrieres by the time the flight is over!

And it would probably mean that the "due to the short duration of the flight, there will be no beverage service..." announcement will be made on more flights.


Fortunately, I doubt that this is really going to happen.

This is how they do it on my short Embraer flight... they are actually quite efficient with it. Basket with snacks, and a little tray that holds 9 or 12 drinks. The FA's would have to get into a good flow but I could see it working. The one flight attendant on my flight serves 25-30 people with plenty of time to spare. Not so sure this would work well on the really large flights, but I don't fly those often so I don't know FA : passenger ratio there.

Not gonna happen.

JetBlue does it on all flights, and WN does it on all flights other than on their 738s. The inflight crew comes through and takes orders from their assigned section, then delivers the orders on trays. Then they come through with a big snack basket. Works fine and customers like it.

Which would leave DL with the ability to realistically do it on only a/c with fewer seats than the 738, which means, not on the 738, 744, 752, 753, 763, 764, 777, 332, 333, and MD90, which would be a pain in the neck to teach IFS, I'd imagine. It would be so inconsistent and I couldn't imagine a smooth transition. I won't say anything is impossible for this, but I think it's pretty unlikely.

Here's the proof (from another thread) that it's for sure the bestest way to do it: ;)

How and why do they do it differently on the 738?

I believe Southwest started out with carts when they introduced the 738s to the fleet, but have since switched (or are planning on switching) to the usual tray set-up.

Do the isle seats have palm trees and umbrellas? ;)

Sorry, I just couldn't resist! :D