US Airways Drops Charges for Drinks in Coach

http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/23/news...ion=2009022309

The airline has announced that it will no longer charge coach customers for
non-alcoholic drinks. Atlanta (CNN) -- While major airlines have been
finding new ways to charge passengers additional fees, at least one effort
has apparently failed. U.S. Airways announced Monday it will no longer
charge travelers for non-alcoholic beverages.
"U.S. Airways was the only large network carrier to charge for drinks and
that put us at a disadvantage," Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said in a news
release.

Under what it called its "beverage purchase program" introduced last year,
U.S. Airways charged coach passengers $1 for tea or coffee and $2 for
bottled water or soft drinks.

The change drew criticism. Ultimately, the company determined that it didn't
pay off.

"The beverage program was distracting from the outstanding improvements in
on-time performance and baggage handling U.S. Airways' 34,000 employees
worked so hard to achieve last year," Parker said.

But the company remains "firmly committed to the a la carte model" in which
"customers pay for what they choose to use," Parker said, calling the model
"a work in progress."

Other changes the company made as part of that new model include checked
baggage fees, additional costs for certain seats, "and our new blanket and
pillow offering - the U.S. Airways Power-Nap Sack," the news release said.
The company expects to generate from $400 to $500 million in 2009 from those
and other "a la carte items."

The free drinks in coach return March 1

"Jim Davis" wrote in message
m...
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/23/news...ion=2009022309

The airline has announced that it will no longer charge coach customers
for non-alcoholic drinks. Atlanta (CNN) -- While major airlines have been
finding new ways to charge passengers additional fees, at least one effort
has apparently failed. U.S. Airways announced Monday it will no longer
charge travelers for non-alcoholic beverages.
"U.S. Airways was the only large network carrier to charge for drinks and
that put us at a disadvantage," Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said in a
news release.

Under what it called its "beverage purchase program" introduced last year,
U.S. Airways charged coach passengers $1 for tea or coffee and $2 for
bottled water or soft drinks.

The change drew criticism. Ultimately, the company determined that it
didn't pay off.

"The beverage program was distracting from the outstanding improvements in
on-time performance and baggage handling U.S. Airways' 34,000 employees
worked so hard to achieve last year," Parker said.

But the company remains "firmly committed to the a la carte model" in
which "customers pay for what they choose to use," Parker said, calling
the model "a work in progress."

Other changes the company made as part of that new model include checked
baggage fees, additional costs for certain seats, "and our new blanket and
pillow offering - the U.S. Airways Power-Nap Sack," the news release said.
The company expects to generate from $400 to $500 million in 2009 from
those and other "a la carte items."

The free drinks in coach return March 1



This is a very good sign. US ran off many of their best customers with
ill-thought charges. They consider themselves a "full service" carrier, but
offer less service than the LCC's. Crappy service does not result in
profits - just loss of your best customers.

"Jeff Hacker" wrote in message
...
"Jim Davis" wrote in message
m...
http://money.cnn.com/2009/02/23/news...ion=2009022309

The airline has announced that it will no longer charge coach customers
for non-alcoholic drinks. Atlanta (CNN) -- While major airlines have been
finding new ways to charge passengers additional fees, at least one
effort has apparently failed. U.S. Airways announced Monday it will no
longer charge travelers for non-alcoholic beverages.
"U.S. Airways was the only large network carrier to charge for drinks and
that put us at a disadvantage," Chairman and CEO Doug Parker said in a
news release.

Under what it called its "beverage purchase program" introduced last
year, U.S. Airways charged coach passengers $1 for tea or coffee and $2
for bottled water or soft drinks.

The change drew criticism. Ultimately, the company determined that it
didn't pay off.

"The beverage program was distracting from the outstanding improvements
in on-time performance and baggage handling U.S. Airways' 34,000
employees worked so hard to achieve last year," Parker said.

But the company remains "firmly committed to the a la carte model" in
which "customers pay for what they choose to use," Parker said, calling
the model "a work in progress."

Other changes the company made as part of that new model include checked
baggage fees, additional costs for certain seats, "and our new blanket
and pillow offering - the U.S. Airways Power-Nap Sack," the news release
said. The company expects to generate from $400 to $500 million in 2009
from those and other "a la carte items."

The free drinks in coach return March 1



This is a very good sign. US ran off many of their best customers with
ill-thought charges. They consider themselves a "full service" carrier,
but offer less service than the LCC's. Crappy service does not result in
profits - just loss of your best customers.

I avoid US Air whenever I can, but I had to fly them about a week ago, and
noticed that no one seemed to be purchasing soda or coffee. Alcohol was
still flowing pretty freely though.

Jim Davis wrote:

I avoid US Air whenever I can, but I had to fly them about a week ago, and
noticed that no one seemed to be purchasing soda or coffee. Alcohol was
still flowing pretty freely though.

They did succeed in annoying a lot of people by charging for soft drinks.

I took four Continental flights in the past 10 days. Simple meals or
snacks were served on every one, and there was also drink service
multiple times during the flight.

The meals we

1. Sandwich (turkey or tuna), chips, cookie
2. Hot pizza and salad
3. Muffin
4. Muffin, banana, and cereal

And AC outlets at every seat on some of the flights!

"SMS" wrote in message
...
Jim Davis wrote:

I avoid US Air whenever I can, but I had to fly them about a week ago,
and noticed that no one seemed to be purchasing soda or coffee. Alcohol
was still flowing pretty freely though.

They did succeed in annoying a lot of people by charging for soft drinks.

I took four Continental flights in the past 10 days. Simple meals or
snacks were served on every one, and there was also drink service multiple
times during the flight.

The meals we

1. Sandwich (turkey or tuna), chips, cookie
2. Hot pizza and salad
3. Muffin
4. Muffin, banana, and cereal

And AC outlets at every seat on some of the flights!

CO has always done that. It helps that they also own Chelsea Food Service.
The first Class food service is excellent.

Jim Davis wrote:

CO has always done that. It helps that they also own Chelsea Food Service.
The first Class food service is excellent.

My 84 y.o. mom was really impressed with CO last year, just because of
the food service. Of course this was after Jet Blue canceled her flight,
refunded her the 21 day advance purchase fare of the return segment, and
wished her luck in finding another way back to FLL from SFO.

CO has a big presence at FLL so she'll be using them from now on. I now
find that CO has the lowest fares, by a significant amount, on flights
to the places I go the most (EWR, BWI, and FLL from SFO). The r/t from
SFO-FLL was $237 inclusive. Also, the CO Mastercard is a pretty good
deal, at least for the first year, and allows you free checked luggage
for the primary card holder. Also, the CO Chase debit card supposedly
lets you have free checked luggage for everyone traveling on the same
reservation.

"SMS" wrote in message
...
Jim Davis wrote:

CO has always done that. It helps that they also own Chelsea Food
Service. The first Class food service is excellent.

My 84 y.o. mom was really impressed with CO last year, just because of the
food service. Of course this was after Jet Blue canceled her flight,
refunded her the 21 day advance purchase fare of the return segment, and
wished her luck in finding another way back to FLL from SFO.

CO has a big presence at FLL so she'll be using them from now on. I now
find that CO has the lowest fares, by a significant amount, on flights to
the places I go the most (EWR, BWI, and FLL from SFO). The r/t from
SFO-FLL was $237 inclusive. Also, the CO Mastercard is a pretty good deal,
at least for the first year, and allows you free checked luggage for the
primary card holder. Also, the CO Chase debit card supposedly lets you
have free checked luggage for everyone traveling on the same reservation.

If you take notice of the airports you mentioned above, you'll find that
they're served by a few "bargain" airlines. Some time ago, CO started
competitive pricing at those, and a few other destinations.

"Jim Davis" wrote in message
m...

"SMS" wrote in message
...
Jim Davis wrote:

I avoid US Air whenever I can, but I had to fly them about a week ago,
and noticed that no one seemed to be purchasing soda or coffee. Alcohol
was still flowing pretty freely though.

They did succeed in annoying a lot of people by charging for soft drinks.

I took four Continental flights in the past 10 days. Simple meals or
snacks were served on every one, and there was also drink service
multiple times during the flight.

The meals we

1. Sandwich (turkey or tuna), chips, cookie
2. Hot pizza and salad
3. Muffin
4. Muffin, banana, and cereal

And AC outlets at every seat on some of the flights!

CO has always done that. It helps that they also own Chelsea Food
Service. The first Class food service is excellent.

At one time, maybe 5 or 10 years ago, Continental became notorious as one of
the airlines that handed you a bag with a sandwich, fruit, cookies or chips,
etc.pon boarding.

"Sancho Panza" wrote in message
...

"Jim Davis" wrote in message
m...

"SMS" wrote in message
...
Jim Davis wrote:

I avoid US Air whenever I can, but I had to fly them about a week ago,
and noticed that no one seemed to be purchasing soda or coffee.
Alcohol was still flowing pretty freely though.

They did succeed in annoying a lot of people by charging for soft
drinks.

I took four Continental flights in the past 10 days. Simple meals or
snacks were served on every one, and there was also drink service
multiple times during the flight.

The meals we

1. Sandwich (turkey or tuna), chips, cookie
2. Hot pizza and salad
3. Muffin
4. Muffin, banana, and cereal

And AC outlets at every seat on some of the flights!

CO has always done that. It helps that they also own Chelsea Food
Service. The first Class food service is excellent.

At one time, maybe 5 or 10 years ago, Continental became notorious as one
of the airlines that handed you a bag with a sandwich, fruit, cookies or
chips, etc.pon boarding.

I remember that. There were a few airlines that had the "lunch bags" in a
container at the top of the jetway. Grab yer lunch, and board the plane.

I remember too, when AA used to put out free soda and snacks in the gate
areas, and WN had donuts and coffee by their gates.

Jim Davis wrote:

I remember too, when AA used to put out free soda and snacks in the gate
areas, and WN had donuts and coffee by their gates.

Morris Air, acquired by Southwest, served Costco muffins.