Hawaiian Airlines Cuts Free Meals In Economy, Frames It As A Positive

If it saves them money, of course it's a positive for them.

It is perfectly fine to mention Lufthansa in this context; however, British Airways, Iberia, and—above all—KLM are following the exact same path: eliminating services and then acting as if that is exactly what the passenger wants.

Great example of the level-headed assessments delivered by OMAAT.

Not, however, a great advertisement for Hawaiian/American cuisine. Largely calorie-laden slop. Not sure this would “elevate my experience”,

The photo of 6 or 7 banana pancakes is enough for 3 people . Yet you may receive merely 1/3 of a banana or a coconut .

Do not be fooled. The Hawaiian Airlines brand will disappear in the next 12-18 months. The costs of two brand identities are probably not worth it. It's clear that AS wanted HA not so much for the Hawaiian network, but for the assets to build out SEA into a true, long haul hub. I see the HA brand pivoting to a more pronounced "inspired by Alitalia" motif down the road. Some Hawaiian themed branding here and there on what will ultimately be AS painted planes.

The future of the 717 fleet is likely to be 737s or E-190s.

Don't love "[w]hile people like free meals in economy," which could stop at "free meals." By this definition of free, "free meals" are also served in business class of much better quality accompanied by a wine program. My guess is economy passengers would appreciate free upgraded food and beverage.

Airlines pull a ton of pricing levers to maximize profit by ruthlessly matching product to price. Outside RM, customers are all just people who appreciate, or feel entitled to, free stuff, the higher quality, the better.

Meals were never free. They were included in the price of the ticket. Much like non alcoholic or alcoholic beverages. The fact that airlines are trying to fee people to death, especially in economy, is ridiculous. Early boarding, bags, seating with slightly extra legroom, and now long haul economy meals.

Don't airlines see the rising popularity of all inclusive resorts? Less friction, less transactions.

While I’m not against this completely, this is a terrible way to roll it out, especially in advance of the summer season. My family purchased flights on Hawaii, with the meals being a contributing factor to choosing Hawaiian. It wasn’t THE reason, but it pushed us that way. When you have kids, the ease and novelty of an airline meal makes a difference. I’m going to reach out and see if they are offering any recovery for people who were already booked with this expectation. I’ll report back if they do.

Serious question Alonzo, if you please? In your opinion is this a U.S. airlines wide phenomenon or limited to just a few examples? I ask this question quite simply because I have absolutely NO personal experience of U.S. domestic airlines.

It would never enter my head to travel on a U.S. domestic flight, never mind in economy. As for actually eating onboard that would be a great stretch of my imagination.

Just trying to figure out with what is wrong with the Hawaiian Brand disappearing. It’s realistically a failed company or they would have been the company buying someone else rather than Alaska buying them.

Now the truth is i do not wish to see the Hawaiian Brand disappear because Hawaii is such a uniquely fabled destination and cultural gem of our United States history, but lets face it, airlines are here to make money to provide jobs, not loose money to loose jobs.

Anyway from all intents and purposes Alaska has not indicated their goal is to wrap the airline all up into one brand in any way yet from what i am reading. Breath deeply change is hard but the results are far better than an Aloha Airlines fate.

i flew Vegas to HNL last year with Hawaiian. it was the best flight ive had in years. service was great, friendly attendants. came with a free meal and Mai tai with alcohol.

As a local, I can assure you that those free meals are free for a reason. They aren't a meal. It's a gross pizza pocket type thing that half the cabin turns down. The waste is outstanding because they stock for almost everyone saying yes . Anyone who is a regular flyer packs a bento themselves for the flight!

This is an absolute improvement. The Alaska meals are tasty and priced very fairly. I expect these to be the same, yet with a Hawaiian angle. And yep, we're known for out unhealthy fried carb heavy cuisine =)

On the whole Alaska has been doing a great job getting Hawaiian back to where it should be. I'm impressed and expect the "dual brand" to be a success.

There's two ways to look at things but to me the way this article is presented it really smacks of click bait. Free is certainly not always something to celebrate, but by gosh losing free will get clicks 😉

I would not take this as a positive. That being said if the BOB is of quality then maybe it's worth the extra money.

It’s not click bait to say that Haiwaiian is clearly under playing the loss of free meals. Sure, maybe this is better overall but just own the decision.

I genuinely don’t think the Haiwaiian brand will disappear any time soon. Alaska made too many promises to keep it and have invested too much in differentiating the brands. Even these Haiwaiian meals are an investment in not just being Alaska. But a decade from now? If it’s all just too complex and a new CEO is at the helm? Very possibly.

Hyatt devalued their program and their management lied to our face, that its not a devaluation. Than their CEO was on WSJ saying the response has been positive.

Now Hawaiian guys are cutting service and telling us thats a good thing.

Always wonder why is there no push back to such blatant white lies.

Yes, they’re taking away something they used to provide for free, but they’re also just matching what the competition did many years ago. You can’t realistically expect any business in any industry to highlight the loss of something they’re taking away. Obviously, the spin is that higher quality food will now be available albeit at a cost. And the new menu choices do look a whole lot better than the free meals they currently offer or the free meals all carriers continue to provide on the 10+ hours long flights between Hawaii & the East Coast.

I have no problem with this. HNL is my home airport and I mostly fly HA and As in economy. Calling the food currently provided a “meal” is a stretch because it’s just a hot sandwich that wasn’t that great anyway. Nothing more. We already get a beverage service.

I already pre-purchase the AS stuff when I fly them since I get a discount with my AS card, and the food isn’t bad. I like the chef they’re bringing onboard and wouldn’t mind buying onboard food. Hopefully less of a need since I have lounge access to HA and AS lounges now.

I know a number of HA flight attendants and they all see the writing on the wall that the HA brand will disappear. They don’t know when exactly, but they’re expecting, sadly.

The brand has been a huge part of Hawaii’s modern history. It will be so sad to see it go.

I have very low trust when I hear that "more money means better quality". My other domestic example is AA. When they increased both the lounge membership prices and the AA Exec card AF to $595, they said that food would be elevated.

Which is to say, it's been different. Some executive chef thought that ssamjang and gojujang sauce would pair well with absolutely terrible rice and protein options. Rubbery shrimp? Add some sauce and say it's Korean fusion! Crappy sliders? Give that inexperienced chef no guidance as s/he tries to do a number on the innards! Nothing gives "fried rice" like doing too much on the seasoning with no plan!

Long story short: by trying to "elevate", the food is borderline revolting now - I always head to the Alaska or Amex lounge if I'm hungry. And this was the exact same promise and framing we're seeing at HA. The hope is that Alaska will do a little better, at least...

To be clear: I love Korean food. Kalbijjim, bibimbap, tofu soups, banchan, seafood pancakes, everything - I adore it. I just hate seeing people mess up food in such an offensive way.

You've really got to stop saying "So-and-so stops FREE meals" and "so-and-so is no longer allowing a FREE bag." Because NONE OF THIS STUFF WAS EVER FREE.

It was bundled in the price of the ticket.

The headline should be "Hawaiian Airlines is now charging for all meals in economy" because that's what's happening here. And this isn't "tomato, tomahto" - words mean things, and nothing the airlines have included was ever, ever, ever "free," even back in the days that people romanticize flying. Call it WHAT IT IS - "a reduction in service amenities with a new cost if the customer still wants it."

Finally, it's going to be a fun time for the FAs when customers, who expected to have lunch on the flight, board the plane having not eaten, and find themselves with nothing to eat for six hours except for a "free(?)" Twix bar.

Why does it matter tho, especially as thats not really how most ppl will view it anyway?

You boarded the plane, you got a meal without having to pay for it. Therefor it was 'free'.
Now, you will board the plane, and not get the meal. Therefore its no longer free.

Are they reducing the price of the ticket to account for no longer giving out a "free" meal? If not, then they're essentially increasing the price of all economy tickets by whatever it costs the passenger to buy this meal (or buy food before getting on the plane). So either the meals were free, or the price of the ticket is being increased.

You clearly are overplaying this for clicks. “Meal” is a very lose term for a heated hot pocket / sandwich with zero accompaniments and no options if your vegetarian, gluten free or vegan. It was a heart snack - and no one loved it.

Everyone who flew Hawaiian knew it couldn’t be better and still be free - so this is a logical move.

To be fair the free meal on Hawaiian was pretty… unappealing. In my opinion. Whereas Alaska’s buy-on-board meals have generally been good. So if the tradeoff is I get a meal I actually would eat then yeah I’m happy to pay for it rather than toss everything in the garbage.

Exactly. It’s another fee.

The so-called free food was never very much. The last few times I flew it was basically a microwaved hot pocket type of sandwich. Better than nothing, but these meals look a lot better even if you have to pay for them.

KLM is very bad anyway

Mini Zip Pac!!

He is famous for being pro-airlines. How? Every time they curtail the benefits, he would proactively offer additional justifications for the airlines, which even the airlines did not think of, and no other bloggers would do that.

You see, here Ben said that well Alaska does not have it, so Hawaiian also should follow suit. And, hey, if you fly economy and complain your meal, how about you don't eat?

I guess he finds this to be "fair" arguments on both sides.

Every organization, from AS to Hyatt and beyond, seems to think that by saying a pile of dog **** is fantastic, that it actually is fantastic. It’s not. Your customers know it’s not. And, your customers now think you are dishonest idiots.

I flew Hawaiian from JFK last summer and their meals were a joke: a single pancake with apple compote for breakfast followed by a hummus sandwich with a sad tomato slice and single piece of lettuce. I've never been so hungry while flying long haul.

James, how much do you know about Hawaiian history? Broken promises by the mainland is *absolutely the norm* for the islands. :o|