Last month United Airlines befuddled customers when it announced its intent to discontinue all hot meals on transatlantic flights, then almost immediately reversed its decision.
Though the airline initially cited “negative customer feedback” as the reason for the change, some are speculating that this “official” explanation is only part of the story. And really, this amounts to only a small victory for customers who are sick of being squeezed by airline fees.
The saga started on August 19, when United said it would discontinue hot meal service on certain flights to and from Europe starting in October. Hot food would be replaced with cold sandwiches and snack boxes that would be free to business and first-class passengers, but would cost coach travelers up to $9, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Then, on September 3, USA Today reported that the change would be scrapped due to “vocal feedback from the carrier’s corporate and elite fliers.” United spokeswoman Robin Urbanski said that these most-valued passengers gave “direct, candid feedback” in opposition to the plan.
This premium fare-paying portion of United’s customer base generates a large chunk of its revenue, and United no doubt did not want to risk losing them. (Economy passengers be damned.)
However, some speculators are pointing to United’s revenue-sharing agreement with Lufthansa as a deciding factor in the reversal.
Upgrade Travel Better discusses how any decision that United makes potentially has an impact on Lufthansa’s bottom line.
And, the Cranky Flier quotes Lufthansa reps as saying that “we have remained in constant dialogue with United on important decisions like this which would also affect Lufthansa code share passengers.”
Though Lufthansa did not admit to applying direct pressure to United, it would seem to make sense, considering that airlines are not traditionally known for their receptivity to customer feedback.
And, of course, United’s reversal does not spell the end of fee hikes at the airline.
BusinessWeek speculates that the airline’s initial decision to scrap hot meals was simply too dramatic a step to take all at once, and that the nickel-and-diming of passengers will continue in smaller, more subtle ways. For one thing, you can wave goodbye to the free pretzels and cookies in domestic economy class and say hello to those costly snack boxes, and even some domestic business-class customers have to forgo the hot meals for free snack boxes.
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By Karen Elowitt for PeterGreenberg.com.
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