alaskaflyer
Final Approach
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Alaskaflyer
Sigh.
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=+1]Pack a snack or buy meal on Alaska[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]TREND: The airline is one of the last to charge for food in flight.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]By MATT WHITE
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: July 19, 2006) [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Starting in August, if you fly Alaska Airlines to the Lower 48, you'll have to bring your own meal or bring five bucks.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Alaska will join nearly every other U.S. airline by charging coach passengers for in-flight meals starting Aug. 1. Breakfast, lunch and dinner meals will all cost $5 on any flight over three hours, except for those to the East Coast.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]The program, which the company calls "Northern Bites Meals-for-purchase," has been the only option for food on Alaska Airlines flights to and from Mexico since last year, and company officials say about one-third of those passengers typically buy the meals.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]All flights connecting Alaska and the Lower 48 will fall under the plan, according to Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Amanda Tobin Bielawski, while flights within Alaska that currently don't offer meal service will continue to offer a free snack and drink. Flights in and out of Alaska Airlines' East Coast destinations -- Washington, D.C., Newark, Miami and Orlando -- will still have free meals, as will first-class seats on all flights.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Bielawski could not explain late Tuesday why meals on the East Coast flights continue to be free. Those flights from Seattle typically take five hours or longer. The airline's nonstop flights between Anchorage and Chicago or Los Angeles take as long, but passengers will be charged for meals, Bielawski said.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]The airline expects to save "several million dollars" a year with the new program, she said, though when asked if Alaska would cut air fares by $5, Bielawski offered a one-word reply: "No."[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1] "[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Our research shows that the meals for purchase is a positive option for passengers," she said. "Our goal is always to provide the best value for our customers."[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]"That's just P.R. blah blah," said Aram Gesar, a longtime industry observer and editor of Air Guide Magazine. "The reality is passengers don't care for it. This is a move to save money. Alaska is known as a very good airline. They have a good reputation but are forced to take this measure."[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]According to the federal Department of Transportation, the price of jet fuel, like that of gasoline, has nearly doubled since 2003. Airlines save twice dropping meals: once in buying less food and again in fuel costs for a slightly lighter airplane.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]"It costs airlines eight to twelve dollars per meal in economy, 15 to 25 in business, more in first class," Gesar said. "This is the trend of all U.S. airlines. Alaska is one of the last to charge for food."[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Reaction among fliers at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on Tuesday was resigned.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]"If people don't want it, they don't have to have it," said Terry Hoffer, who with his wife, Caroline Hoffer, arrived from Sacramento, Calif.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]"You already pay $600 for the tickets, you'd think they would feed you," said Caroline Hoffer. "I priced a trip to the West Indies and it cost more to come here."[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Luanne Lawler, who said she'd had two meals on her flights that day from Orlando, asked a key question: "You don't have to buy it, do you?"[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Several travelers just said they thought the move was inevitable.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Airlines across the country have made the news with cost cutting in recent years. United famously defaulted on its pension plan a year ago, and US Airways recently got permission from a judge to slash employee salaries by 21 percent.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Alaska has also cut employee salaries and in 2005 made the news by outsourcing ground operations at its Seattle hub. That decision returned to headlines last December when a contract worker damaged the skin of an Alaska airplane, causing an in-flight depressurization.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]And Harper's Magazine reported last year that Northwest Airlines planned on saving over $565,000 by eliminating free magazines and $2 million by ditching free pretzels.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=+1]Pack a snack or buy meal on Alaska[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]TREND: The airline is one of the last to charge for food in flight.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]By MATT WHITE
Anchorage Daily News
(Published: July 19, 2006) [/SIZE][/FONT] [FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Starting in August, if you fly Alaska Airlines to the Lower 48, you'll have to bring your own meal or bring five bucks.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Alaska will join nearly every other U.S. airline by charging coach passengers for in-flight meals starting Aug. 1. Breakfast, lunch and dinner meals will all cost $5 on any flight over three hours, except for those to the East Coast.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]The program, which the company calls "Northern Bites Meals-for-purchase," has been the only option for food on Alaska Airlines flights to and from Mexico since last year, and company officials say about one-third of those passengers typically buy the meals.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]All flights connecting Alaska and the Lower 48 will fall under the plan, according to Alaska Airlines spokeswoman Amanda Tobin Bielawski, while flights within Alaska that currently don't offer meal service will continue to offer a free snack and drink. Flights in and out of Alaska Airlines' East Coast destinations -- Washington, D.C., Newark, Miami and Orlando -- will still have free meals, as will first-class seats on all flights.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Bielawski could not explain late Tuesday why meals on the East Coast flights continue to be free. Those flights from Seattle typically take five hours or longer. The airline's nonstop flights between Anchorage and Chicago or Los Angeles take as long, but passengers will be charged for meals, Bielawski said.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]The airline expects to save "several million dollars" a year with the new program, she said, though when asked if Alaska would cut air fares by $5, Bielawski offered a one-word reply: "No."[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1] "[/SIZE][/FONT][FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Our research shows that the meals for purchase is a positive option for passengers," she said. "Our goal is always to provide the best value for our customers."[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]"That's just P.R. blah blah," said Aram Gesar, a longtime industry observer and editor of Air Guide Magazine. "The reality is passengers don't care for it. This is a move to save money. Alaska is known as a very good airline. They have a good reputation but are forced to take this measure."[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]According to the federal Department of Transportation, the price of jet fuel, like that of gasoline, has nearly doubled since 2003. Airlines save twice dropping meals: once in buying less food and again in fuel costs for a slightly lighter airplane.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]"It costs airlines eight to twelve dollars per meal in economy, 15 to 25 in business, more in first class," Gesar said. "This is the trend of all U.S. airlines. Alaska is one of the last to charge for food."[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Reaction among fliers at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport on Tuesday was resigned.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]"If people don't want it, they don't have to have it," said Terry Hoffer, who with his wife, Caroline Hoffer, arrived from Sacramento, Calif.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]"You already pay $600 for the tickets, you'd think they would feed you," said Caroline Hoffer. "I priced a trip to the West Indies and it cost more to come here."[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Luanne Lawler, who said she'd had two meals on her flights that day from Orlando, asked a key question: "You don't have to buy it, do you?"[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Several travelers just said they thought the move was inevitable.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Airlines across the country have made the news with cost cutting in recent years. United famously defaulted on its pension plan a year ago, and US Airways recently got permission from a judge to slash employee salaries by 21 percent.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]Alaska has also cut employee salaries and in 2005 made the news by outsourcing ground operations at its Seattle hub. That decision returned to headlines last December when a contract worker damaged the skin of an Alaska airplane, causing an in-flight depressurization.[/SIZE][/FONT]
[FONT=VERDANA, ARIAL, HELVETICA, SANS-SERIF][SIZE=-1]And Harper's Magazine reported last year that Northwest Airlines planned on saving over $565,000 by eliminating free magazines and $2 million by ditching free pretzels.[/SIZE][/FONT]
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