Airlines Put Hungry Passengers On Forced Diets Meal Service Eliminated On More Flights As Carriers Seek Ways To Shave Costs

When Trica Jean-Baptiste flew from Newark to New Orleans in April on business, she fended off hunger during her five-hour trip with a hot dog and bag of chips she bought at the Cincinnati airport before boarding her connecting flight.

“Otherwise I would have been famished,” said Jean-Baptiste, the director of public relations for the Parker Meridien hotel in Manhattan, “because food wasn’t served on either one of the flights.”

Welcome to flying in 1996, a year marked not only by increasing passenger loads but by the incredible shrinking airline meal. And as food becomes harder to find on flights, hungry travelers may add its availability to their list of concerns when choosing an airline or route - right up there with fares, safety and frequent-flier miles.

Some airline passengers have been on forced diets since 1992, when the industry lost a record $4.79 billion and began reducing food costs. But the cutbacks are becoming more noticeable.

United Airlines, for example, last year extended to 501 miles from 251 miles the length of a flight before passengers are offered a snack, and lengthened to 701 from 501 the miles required for a hot meal.

Moreover, that policy is only for flights during meal hours. Otherwise, only a beverage is served on flights up to 899 miles (roughly the distance from New York to St. Louis) and only a snack, like a sandwich or fruit plate, for longer distances.

While the average airline trip is just under 1,000 miles, which would qualify passengers for a hot meal on most airlines, many flights connect at hub airports, breaking that 1,000-mile trip into two or more legs. Often, neither of those flights is long enough to qualify for a meal, so it is not uncommon for passengers to spend the better part of a day on a plane and in a terminal without being given much to eat.

Whatever the airlines’ revamped meal policies have done to shrink passengers’ waistlines, they have had a perceptible impact on the carriers’ bottom lines.

Last year, the industry’s food bill of $2.261 billion was $368 million less than in 1992, according to the Air Transport Association.

Airlines spent roughly $4.45 on meals per passenger in 1995, down from about $5.60 in 1992. Not only have many carriers cut back on the frequency of meals, they have also saved money by serving chicken, pasta, sandwiches or salads, instead of former mainstays like steak or fish.

“A $368 million savings might not sound like a lot,” said David Swierenga, the chief economist for the Air Transport Association, “but after losing more than $13 billion through 1994, the industry was desperate to cut costs.” Last year, after five consecutive losing years, industry net profits totaled $2.376 billion.

While many passengers are resigned to flights without food, particularly since the proliferation of no-frills carriers, some travelers are still disappointed that major carriers offer less than a full meal.

On a recent flight from Atlanta to New York, Rick Bubenhoffer, director of marketing for Studio Plus hotels in Lexington, Ky., had to make do with a sandwich and chips. “I can remember,” he lamented, “when an airplane meal was really a meal.”

Airlines, however, say that they hear relatively few complaints and that passengers are more concerned about lower fares or on-time performance. “The big airlines all learned from Southwest, which never made any pretext of serving anything but peanuts or cookies,” said Lee Howard, president of Airline Economics, a consulting company in Big Canoe, Ga.

Some passengers have not taken the changes lightly. Greg Davidowitch, a flight attendant with United for eight years, said: “It amazes me that passengers don’t complain more to the airline, but they sure complain to us. I don’t blame them. Where they used to have a choice of three hot entrees, now they’re lucky to get a roll with a slice of ham or turkey.”