toobz wrote:

DL isn't the best when it comes to everything. But they are doing more than any other US airline to better their service. That's all that's been said. And maybe when AS does something to differentiate themselves, AS fanboys will have their chance.

Edited to add: Last comment was not meant as mean. AS is a great airline. I live in the NW and use them frequently as well.

Thanks, and not to beat a dead horse but really, AS fanboys don't do a whole lot of bragging. Certainly not to the extent that I see DL fanboys doing. That's my opinion and I can respect that you feel otherwise. That said, AS has done things to better their service that have led the industry in recent years and I don't see bragging threads. A couple of examples, AS was the first U.S. airline to offer a baggage service guarantee. AS just paid out some very nice profit sharing checks to their employees. These are both things that would have probably generated DL threads that would have gone on for a long time and had rabid responses from the DL fanboys and those on the opposite side. Anyway, yes, DL does an excellent job and they are adding amenities that are setting a higher standard for other airlines to follow - good for them.

b727fa wrote:

IFE is free. And why these two routes? They are the tightest and most competitive routes in the US. While market share is desireable (and it matters), but Delta is really driving our Net Promoter Score. This is a big part of what's driving the change. Delta may not make a ton of money or gain a lot of market share, the increase of the NPS is what matters to the brand at this point.

Disagree; if the free meals don't pay dividends to DL in some manner -- increasing average fares, increasing market share, bringing more passengers to DL, etc. -- no way will DL continue to provide them. The cost of the service + loss of buy on board profits makes this a quite costly proposition -- no way will DL continue it because it feels warm and fuzzy about its NPS.[/quote]

Delta News Network report today:
"This enhancement comes on the heels of a test conducted late last year, where the airline closely monitored customer satisfaction scores to determine the impact on the in-flight experience and saw a significant increase as a result of the test.

“We are all about making our Main Cabin experience the best it can be for our customers and offering free, high quality meals is a big part of that experience,” said Allison Ausband, Delta’s Senior Vice President – In-Flight Service. “When we tested this concept, our customers loved it and appreciated it so we are implementing in our most strategic markets."

Huh.

ASFlyer wrote:

klkla wrote:

ASFlyer wrote:

WHY do the DL fanboys here feel the need to congratulate themselves at every turn and jump up and down to tell the whole world how great they are? There's something to be said for a being humble. There really is. Continue doing what you do to make Delta a really nice airline and then just be humble and don't brag at every. single. turn. This bit about acting like Delta is the second coming of Christ is nauseating and does nothing to endear the airline and it's people to anyone.

It's hardly just DL fanboys that do this. AA, UA and AS fanboys are just as bad.

Actually, the AS fan boys really don't. Find the last post where an AS fan boy claimed to be better than the rest.

so by someone saying, and using your own words, 'Delta Continues to Raise the Bar, you take that as DL fan boys 'claiming to be better than the rest'?

I'm sorry but I don't see how just those few words makes claim that DL is better than the rest. Personally, I think some on here are way to sensitive. I can see if this was said, 'Delta continues to raise the bar, putting the competition to shame'. That is definitely suggestive of being better than the rest. At any rate, what is so wrong about claiming to be better when your in-flight services do happen to be better than the competition?

I mean, just google 'free meals Delta Air Lines' and you get hits in all the big news markets like Seattle, NY, LA, SFO, Forbes, Travel and Leisure, USA Today. CNN. That's a lot of free press right there and good press. In fact if you just google 'free meals US airlines, Delta Air Lines fills your search results.

D'oh!!!!

I just booked a flight from BUF to SFO in March (I booked on the 10th, the day before this was posted!). My choice was DL via JFK (transcon was on a 767) or UA through ORD (via 737), with similar timing and cost (UA was slightly more expensive). I really wanted to book the DL flight, but I'm travelling with 3 kids so I went with the UA flight specifically BECAUSE OF meal timing / availability. I consider this a "risk management" exercise: BOB can be a little "hit and miss", and DL had a noticeably longer segment... that LAST thing that I (and people seated near me) want to hear is 3 hungry, cranky children.

I agree with those who posted above that this may not be a "game changer" as such, but it is a service improvement and that is a very good thing. Had I known, it would have put 4 more paying butts into DL seats.

On the bright side: my return flight is on DL through DTW (my first DL flight since the year 2000), so I am looking forward to comparing DL to UA / AA / B6 which I typically fly. If all goes well, I could reconsider my loyalties...

b727fa wrote:

b727fa wrote:

IFE is free. And why these two routes? They are the tightest and most competitive routes in the US. While market share is desireable (and it matters), but Delta is really driving our Net Promoter Score. This is a big part of what's driving the change. Delta may not make a ton of money or gain a lot of market share, the increase of the NPS is what matters to the brand at this point.

Disagree; if the free meals don't pay dividends to DL in some manner -- increasing average fares, increasing market share, bringing more passengers to DL, etc. -- no way will DL continue to provide them. The cost of the service + loss of buy on board profits makes this a quite costly proposition -- no way will DL continue it because it feels warm and fuzzy about its NPS.

Delta News Network report today:
"This enhancement comes on the heels of a test conducted late last year, where the airline closely monitored customer satisfaction scores to determine the impact on the in-flight experience and saw a significant increase as a result of the test.

“We are all about making our Main Cabin experience the best it can be for our customers and offering free, high quality meals is a big part of that experience,” said Allison Ausband, Delta’s Senior Vice President – In-Flight Service. “When we tested this concept, our customers loved it and appreciated it so we are implementing in our most strategic markets."

Huh.[/quote]

NetPromoter scores are related to what you, B727FA, are saying. They are a proxy for how much a customer will become an evangelical and/or a blind follower. This is a decision to spend $5 to $7 (and honestly I would be shocked if the entire cost of the "meal" including delivery, storage, warming, waste, replacement/broken/stolen is more than $7) to gain a marketing/sales advantage over the competition.

Consider:
1. how much meals will cost on these 12 routes that already get catering and full meals in F/C
(and look at how much press DL is getting from this decision....it has hit national, general press and got a story on CBS...that's worth millions)
2. most of which (except JFK-LAX/SFO) operate only once or twice per day
3. all of which have very heavy competition, most of which have at least three carriers (JFK-LAX/SFO have four; BOS-LAX has five)
4. all of which are high profile routes and have significant paid-F and business travelers (i.e. many elites are sitting in coach)
5. Several routes, particularly the SEA routes, are specifically designed to feed Int'l and therefore are competing with JL, CX, NH, LH, LX, etc.
(If I'm a DL elite in BOS/NYC/RDU...knowing that I'm getting better than average service makes the SEA connection to HKG more
palatable/acceptable when otherwise looking at a n/s from EWR or ORD on UA. I'll admit it still doesn't compare to CX. But all those miles!)
6. It's hard for B6 in particular and AS to compete
B6 doesn't have the catering infrastructure nor the galley space to serve a 150 coach meals
It would drive up AS' costs in markets (particularly RDU and FLL) where they have less brand presence

In sum, this is a $1,000 per flight decision. if this gets three more "H" or "Q" fare passengers that are now "X" or "V" fares then it paid for itself; if DL can price the n/s at $20 over the connection the whole thing is a win; if it helps pull a few medallions over to DL for TPAC through SEA its a home run.

The PR blitz is sickening. I'm seeing it all over the papers and airwaves. And no more than about 0.014% of DL passengers will be affected. Of course the rarity of the program is not well or at all mentioned to the public, nor is how a "meal" is less than before. DL hoodwinks the public again.

"hoodwinks" the public by offering free meals on certain flights..? LOL..dude seriously c'mon now...

MSPNWA wrote:

The PR blitz is sickening. I'm seeing it all over the papers and airwaves. And no more than about 0.014% of DL passengers will be affected. Of course the rarity of the program is not well or at all mentioned to the public, nor is how a "meal" is less than before. DL hoodwinks the public again.

Here's Delta's official press release about this:
http://news.delta.com/delta-debuts-free ... 12-markets

You will notice that Delta's official headline says 12 MARKETS. Yes, it says 12...that's it. It is beyond clear to anyone who can read that this applies to TWELVE markets only. It's even in the headline, not buried in some fine print somewhere in the press release! How news agencies or blogs then choose to report that is not Delta's issue. So no, Delta is not trying to hoodwink the public...in fact, sounds like you're the one trying to reinterpret or rephrase it to suit your agenda...

This entire stunt is a shot at AS/VX and is a continuation of DL's attempts to piss all over AS. Look at the routes they're doing this on...except for maybe PDX-JFK and SAN-JFK they're all AS/VX routes.

hiflyeras wrote:

This entire stunt is a shot at AS/VX and is a continuation of DL's attempts to piss all over AS. Look at the routes they're doing this on...except for maybe PDX-JFK and SAN-JFK they're all AS/VX routes.

use whatever words you want, if piss all over AS works for you than so be it. I mean, shame on Delta for offering a better product than the competition. Double shame on you Delta for pissing all over AS.

hiflyer..now is the time for AS to step up their game, I guess right! Why do people think everything DL does is to piss on AS? They added these services to flights that DL has competition on..whether its AS or UA,AA.

MSPNWA wrote:

lowfareair wrote:

No, it's just that only CONUS routes over 2,300 miles are getting the additional free food. SEA-ATL is only 2,182 miles, quite below any of the other routes.

That's what I thought too, but curiously LAX-MIA at 2,342 isn't included. So 2,350? Either way the policy applies to a minute fraction of DL flights.

Hey, LAS is 2242, so 58 miles short and your typical JFK-LAS fare is more expensive than JFK-LAX.....But that's just me being snarky, I do applaud DL for bringing back some type of "free" food in Y, if only on limited routes.

MSPNWA wrote:

The PR blitz is sickening. I'm seeing it all over the papers and airwaves. And no more than about 0.014% of DL passengers will be affected. Of course the rarity of the program is not well or at all mentioned to the public, nor is how a "meal" is less than before. DL hoodwinks the public again.

I'm assuming given how much of a bitter betty you are, you were let go from Delta, right?

ASFlyer wrote:

klkla wrote:

ASFlyer wrote:

WHY do the DL fanboys here feel the need to congratulate themselves at every turn and jump up and down to tell the whole world how great they are? There's something to be said for a being humble. There really is. Continue doing what you do to make Delta a really nice airline and then just be humble and don't brag at every. single. turn. This bit about acting like Delta is the second coming of Christ is nauseating and does nothing to endear the airline and it's people to anyone.

It's hardly just DL fanboys that do this. AA, UA and AS fanboys are just as bad.

Actually, the AS fan boys really don't. Find the last post where an AS fan boy claimed to be better than the rest.

It's simple scale. AS is a good run airline, but they are still way smaller in scale than DL and outside of the PacNW, not a very large player.

DL may put a certain spin on things, but that's what Marketing is supposed to do. Their job is to sell a product, make people attracted to it. So the headlines will match that mantra. Be splashing, grab attention.

MSPNWA wrote:

The PR blitz is sickening. I'm seeing it all over the papers and airwaves. And no more than about 0.014% of DL passengers will be affected. Of course the rarity of the program is not well or at all mentioned to the public, nor is how a "meal" is less than before. DL hoodwinks the public again.

Sorry, but once again you are wrong. The PR blitz is pure marketing genius. And keep moaning and crying, but DL will have the best service in Y on these routes. I work for a competing airline and DL is beating us in service on these routes. For now

NBC Nightly News just ran a segment a few minutes ago on "meals making a comeback on domestic flights."

Wow, talk about fake news. That segment will certainly give a lot of people the impression that Delta economy class now includes meals.

Will those pax on basic economy fares get a meal as well?

panamair wrote:

You will notice that Delta's official headline says 12 MARKETS. Yes, it says 12...that's it. It is beyond clear to anyone who can read that this applies to TWELVE markets only. It's even in the headline, not buried in some fine print somewhere in the press release! How news agencies or blogs then choose to report that is not Delta's issue. So no, Delta is not trying to hoodwink the public...in fact, sounds like you're the one trying to reinterpret or rephrase it to suit your agenda...

You honestly think the flying public is going to read the official press release and get the whole story?! I get a chuckle out of that one. You think DL is so naive that they want to tell every media outlet but remind them to emphasize the extremely limited nature and substance of the "meal" to their detriment? Of course not. They're not stupid. They're smart, and they take advantage of people that way. They know the media won't focus or even mention that. And that's the result we get. I saw a news brief on the news networks that hardly mentioned any detail about the limited nature of it, and instead you would think that we were back to the good-old days of real free meals everywhere.

With all this media coverage, we know what the real intent was. This is a great PR stunt. The cost of the program is nothing compared to the free publicity. The reality is that changing the first class meal window 15 minutes probably affects more passengers than this ever will. But you won't see that in the press.

This is a great move for the very few people that get the benefit. This ins't great for those that book Delta in part because of this and don't receive the benefit.

Alitalia744 wrote:

I'm assuming given how much of a bitter betty you are, you were let go from Delta, right?

Stay on topic. But, no, swing and a miss. Couldn't be farther from the truth. I couldn't work for a company as unethical as Delta.

Alitalia744 wrote:

MSPNWA wrote:

The PR blitz is sickening. I'm seeing it all over the papers and airwaves. And no more than about 0.014% of DL passengers will be affected. Of course the rarity of the program is not well or at all mentioned to the public, nor is how a "meal" is less than before. DL hoodwinks the public again.

I'm assuming given how much of a bitter betty you are, you were let go from Delta, right?

The "NWA" in the title might be a hint... despite protestations, he is a union shill bitter about DL's employees going non-union

MSPNWA do you have any idea how ridiculous and nonsensical you sound? To be blunt with you, you complain about everything Delta does which basically makes you laughable. Your like the boy who cried wolf. Sorry, don't mean to attack you like that but its true. You should take a few hours or days and read to yourself all your replies to anything DL related.

Just about every major media outlet has covered the story and, I know its hard to believe, but they all basically tip their hat to Delta for being the first airline since 2001 to bring back free meals in coach (Yes, on only 12 routes, what is Delta thinking?)

Look at all the positive media coverage. This is actually quite the brilliant move by Delta.

http://www.seattletimes.com/business/bo ... l-flights/

http://www.foxnews.com/travel/2017/02/1 ... ights.html

http://www.cnbc.com/2017/02/17/remember ... ights.html

http://www.sun-sentinel.com/business/fl ... story.html

http://www.nj.com/news/index.ssf/2017/0 ... on_12.html

http://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/fl ... /97997860/

http://www.travelandleisure.com/airline ... -free-food

http://www.forbes.com/forbes/welcome/?t ... oogle.com/

http://money.cnn.com/2017/02/16/pf/delt ... l-flights/

The only thing worse than Delta fanboys are the anti-Delta fanboys who seem to complain nonstop in every thread about how Delta is an evil company that will destroy the industry, even when the topic is about Delta doing a good thing.

Get a life MSPNWA, your username really says it all.

jumbojet wrote:

Just about every major media outlet has covered the story and, I know its hard to believe, but they all basically tip their hat to Delta for being the first airline since 2001 to bring back free meals in coach

Just so we're clear - Alaska served meals in Coach long past 2001. And certainly long after Delta stopped serving free meals.

Question on product differentiation. With free meals coming to Y and Y- (when basic is offered) on these 12 routes, is there going to be any enhancement to Y+ for product differentiation? I assume the cash upgrade for comfort plus is pretty hefty on these flights, and I wonder how the enhancement to the rest of the coach product is going to affect decision to purchase the comfort plus upgrade. I assume the game plan is free booze, and the higher end snack basket for comfort plus, and then the same 3-choice free meals as everyone else in the back. Anyone have any information otherwise?

Also, while this does cover only 12 routes, some of these routes are going to see a lot of service this summer. For example, the 737 is off JFK-SEA for the summer, and the trip is now 1x763 and 4x757 on peak days. So when you add this to the very busy JFK-LAX/SFO, a lot of people are going to be able to try this out.

It is kind of surprising that a post on food has garnered such attention.

TW870, he C+ pax will have individual water bottles provided and a mid flight snack: ice cream, snack bar, etc. They will also have a snack basket (similar to the FC snack basket that's "extra").