Delta Air Lines will eliminate free snacks and drinks on shortest flights in economy. From 19 May, the service will no longer be provided on the links under 350 miles, i.e. about 563 kilometers, except for those traveling in First Class. The change concerns a limited part of the network – about 9 percent of the company’s daily flights, amounting to more or less 450 connections – but it affects very frequent and short routes, such as New York-Boston or other regional movements in the United States.
Delta did not already offer snacks and drinks on flights under 250 miles. With the new threshold, the category of non-service flights on board extends: on a short flight in Main Cabin or Delta Comfort there will no longer be coffee, water, biscuits or biscuits Biscoff that many passengers associate with the airline’s flights. Delta has explained the decision saying that it wants to make the service more uniform on its network, also because on such short routes the useful time to distribute and withdraw glasses and packages is often very reduced.
The same change, however, is not only a cut. Delta said that on flights of at least 350 miles will be introduced full service of snacks and drinks also for passengers of Delta Comfort and Main Cabin. According to the company, this means that a larger share of flights will have a more complete service than before: 14 percent of daily connections should receive an improvement, while 9 percent will lose all service in economy. In fact, it is a quite typical way with which companies present these changes: a part of the offer is reduced, another is made clearer or more extensive.
The choice has been noted because Delta has been present for years as a company “premium” compared to other US carriers, and because on this point some competitors are less restrictive. American Airlines offers free soft drinks and snacks on flights over 250 miles, United serves free drinks on all flights and snacks on those over 300 miles, while Southwest offers free snacks and soft drinks on flights over 251 miles. Henry Harteveldt, a travel analyst at Atmosphere Research, criticized the decision by saying that even many low cost companies sell food and beverages even on short flights, and that removing the full cabin service does not help Delta to support the image of premium company.
L’articolo No more snacks and drinks on Delta Air Lines short flights proviene da IlNewyorkese.
