Djlawman

Friday, after a West Coast week, I flew home to PHL from Seattle on US Air flight 104. Leaves Seattle and gets into PHL at about 5 pm. Now, what meal would you think they should serve on this flight? Since we all obeyed our airline and were at the airport at least 1 hr. prior to departure, that means we have all been up since at least 7 am, or in my case since 6 am. So, by the time we reach cruising altitude at 9:30 am, we have already had breakfast a couple of hours ago. So, you would think that they would wait a while, and then serve lunch, Right??? Well, of course, you and I would both be wrong. They served breakfast.
Is US Air doing this because they are just stupid, or is it because that way they can get away with serving us a cheaper meal? Seems to be part of a pattern to completely eliminate any good meal service on US Air--which unfortunately I am forced to fly since PHL is only their hub.

deelmakur

I was on 106 that day, which is the second nonstop SEA-PHL. unfortunately, the long haul meals on US have been getting worse and worse. be glad you got breakfast. the lunch choices were unspeakable (in first, no less). I have noticed that most carriers skimp on meals on routes where there are no direct competitors. it's a shame, because the meal services on these flites ueed to be pretty good. they can't really save that much money. in future, order the specials.

wahooflyer

The more things change...

I wasn't flying US Airways in 1999, but it's interesting to see that FTers had similar comments on the meal service then as they do now.

GalleyWench

I can see where this may be frustrating for some people. I know that when I have to get up at 2-3:00 a.m. for those early morning departures I too am often ready for lunch by 9:00 a.m. Unfortunately, the airlines all operate under what they call meal time parameters. Breakfast (or facsimile) is served on flights departing between 0530-0959. A lot of people on those early morning flights cut their time down to the quick and don't take time to eat at home, and many are on the road and aren't able to purchase breakfast at their hotels that early so several of them are wanting breakfast on those earlier flights. I always try to pack a sandwich on the day I leave home, and have gotten lots of strange looks eatting tuna salad that early but it all depends on what time your stomach is telling you it is.
Sorry you were disappointed.

EnvoyBoy

I agree with GalleyWench. I would assume it to be breakfast and would, accordingly, sleep an extra 30 mins, knowing I didn't need to get breakfast elsewhere. This is one of my main frustrations with the new low class First Class. I used to be able to schedule my time with the knowledge that I could catch my meals in the air and that they would be decent (not great, but decent) and hot. Actually, I've always thought US breakfast was the best meal they served in domestic FC.

otralot

When people talk about the bad food I guess its because they got the facsimilie meal.

Kind of a scary concept really. It is a reasonable facsimilie of breakfast?

mbmbbost

The other night I happened to be reading an article in this month's Attache magazine about the "fresh, tasty, easy to serve, ready to eat, and reasonably priced" In-flight Cafe meals. It goes on and on about the care and thought that has gone into this program. And it makes the point that they "have to find ways of offering something different every month, and that requires good planning and a bit of creativity." Then I hear the FA describe the meals they're selling. Some kind of hoagie, with goldfish crackers, raisins, and Oreo cookies. Goldfish, raisins and Oreos are the kind of thing anyone could keep in their carry-on for weeks. I wouldn't dream of calling those choices creative, or part of a "fresh, tasty," "gourmet" meal program. It would be so easy to do so much better with this. I could go buy the stuff at my local Costco, mark it up about triple, and it would still be way better... And then I was served my stale roll and roast beef sandwich in first class..along with an xoxo. I was so glad I'd brought along some leftovers from dinner the night before!

longing4piedmont

Just in case no one noticed, this thread is 6 years old.

fly747first

Honey, US Air is no longer an airline... it's been called US Airways for quite a while now. Wake-up and smell the coffee, will ya?

planeluvr

The post was from 1999.

SS255

Yeh, I read this in Attache and got a good chuckle. Truthfully, I thought IFC was alot better when they were utilizing "real" vendors, like Hard Rock and Wolfgang Puck and charging $10 instead of $7. I would happily pay a $3 surcharge in F to get a better quality IFC meal.

CPRich

The name change was in 1997. Feb. 27 , to be exact

planeluvr

Man time does fly, it seems like yesterday when they changed their name. It seems like not long ago we were flying Piedmont, getting bought and dealing with BA and the ability to combine ff miles with AA miles for awards. Where has the time gone?

dukeman

I couldn't agree more. Just before the end of the AA alliance I used miles from both US and AA to fly to the caribbean. AA on the way down and US on the return. A perfect arrangement for people like me to use up a small balance of miles on AA. Now that I think about it -- it was 5 years ago.....

CPRich

Yes, I know what you mean - I remember all of those.

Actually, I was in the middle of a "Hey, the post is 6 years old, the name change wasn't until...." and I had to do some research. That's how I know the date