whywhytee wrote:

Is this permanent?

I hope so. There are few things I find more annoying on flights than the food and beverage service.
Is it really that difficult to refrain from eating and drinking for a few hours? I understand doing it on long haul routes longer than 6 hours but not less. Food and beverage on relatively short red-eyes are the absolute worst.

American Airlines is not doing just water. You can ask for whatever beverage you want even in main cabin other than alcohol. It is only upon request though.

MartijnNL wrote:

PSU.DTW.SCE wrote:

Idiots taking advantage of dirt cheap fares and/or doing mileage runs; the airline should ban these people's FF accounts.

Maybe the airlines should ban dirt cheap fares.

Or maybe the airlines should just do what they should have done to China from last year, do not fly.
The government whether State or Federal are being led by experts who say shut down but allow essential services, one would think that these experts would also have a plan for these persons to get to work that does not involve using an industry that should be shut down to prevent the spread of the virus.

The military charters, business houses can charter buses for their staff for car pooling, if more experts were in the room when these decisions were made, the process and life under lock down would be much easier to bear. Imagine having essential personnel take over a hotel sanitized and close to their place of employment, no tourist so empty anyway, I am certain creative minds can come up with other options if anyone is willing to listen.

Knowing the airlines who spread the virus worldwide are still flying is not very comforting, but it is what it is.

catiii wrote:

Ziyulu wrote:

inlikepitt wrote:

4 hours...torture? Seriously? Please just stay home until this crisis blows over.

How do you know this is a temporary change? What if it sticks? Not providing meals after 9/11 was not temporary.

You must not fly much. Many flights domestically have meals.

Really? I flew UA to Hawaii and the only thing served was a bag of pretzels. I guess if you count that as a meal.

VSMUT wrote:

Flanker7 wrote:

VSMUT wrote:

So do they compensate the business class passengers?

The have received a mail with explanations why, cannot say for sure if any form of compensation is in place.

Well I'll make sure to avoid KLM for my long-haul business class trips in the forseeable future then.

Hahaha..."long-haul business class trips" to WHERE? Everything is being cut. Every airline will be the same. Get used to it and get over it.

WidebodyPTV wrote:

Bradin wrote:

PSU.DTW.SCE wrote:

This isn't about service; people currently flying right now are because of truly essential matters, people desperately trying to get home to their point of shelter in place, or clueless idiots.

There are quite a few clueless idiots that are required to fly to support national security efforts because they are considered critical infrastructure workers as outlined at https://www.cisa.gov/critical-infrastructure-sectors.

I'm one of those idiots.

Are you one of those idiots, or are you one of those people he mentioned that are flying because of truly essential matters?

I work for a critical infrastructure sector.

I wasn't calling you an idiot.
I realize there are people that are traveling for critical matters. They have my full support and there are just reasons why they should and have to fly.

However, there are a few clueless idiots in denial that are still traveling for pointless leisure purposes thinking they should still go to rent the VRBO in Florida or a few others doing mileage runs. Those are the clueless idiots.

DL doesn’t want to alienate customers, they had to make a quick decision to reduce possible spread with the items that they currently have in stock, and that is bottled water and snack boxes. If coronavirus continues or we get a second wave, I’m sure they’ll look into a product we currently don’t have to quench thirst and hunger.

This service standard is an emergency declaration utilizing what they they have.

PSU.DTW.SCE wrote:

I wasn't calling you an idiot.
I realize there are people that are traveling for critical matters. They have my full support and there are just reasons why they should and have to fly.

However, there are a few clueless idiots in denial that are still traveling for pointless leisure purposes thinking they should still go to rent the VRBO in Florida or a few others doing mileage runs. Those are the clueless idiots.

Can you drop the "idiot" naming? It just makes you appear as a condescending know-it-all.

hereandthere41 wrote:

Who cares what was happening four weeks ago. How's your airline doing now?

It wasn't about the four weeks. It was about the incredible difference in catering between a two hour KLM flight and a five hour Delta flight. The mentioned snack box was probably also handed out more than four weeks ago.

hereandthere41 wrote:

All four wheels are falling off the cart worldwide in this industry and ALL you guys can gripe about is the inflight service? Get a grip on reality.

We all know what is happening in the industry right now. I just replied to someone who thinks a complimentary snack box on a five hour flight equals good service.

For the coming months I expect nothing from the airlines. I am looking at probably sixteen cancelled flight. At least KLM (and other airlines) are offering free rebooking for an entire year on all flights and all destinations.

I do wonder how this will affect on-board service when things will return to normal.

In-flight service in US3 Main Cabins was (slowly) improving over the past several years. We saw:

-AA/UA resumed serving cocktail snacks during the beverage service
-DL resumed free alcoholic beverages (including liquor) on international flights
-AA/UA resume free wine/beer on international flights
-DL introduced amenity kits in Y
-DL resumed an "enhanced snack"/meal service (I wouldn't really call it a full meal, more like the "Snack" service that 2 hour flights would have in Y pre-9/11 days) on a number on transcontinental routes
-AA resumed an "enhanced snack"/meal service on JFK-LAX/SFO and ORD/DFW-Hawaii runs.
-DL resumed meal service on Hawaii-ATL/Midwest runs
-UA was trialing an "enhanced snack"/meal service on Hawaii flights as well as trialing amenities in Y on intercontinental flights (why a trial was needed for both of those I am not sure)

I am willing to bet once everything stabilizes and things return to normal a number of these services are eliminated. IIRC WN took pillows/blankets away during H1N1 and promised to bring them back once things normalized...but they never did make a return.

Because in Europe and China there is less competition and passengers don’t mind paying for services. Unlike US passengers who seek out the cheapest fares.

MartijnNL wrote:

hereandthere41 wrote:

Who cares what was happening four weeks ago. How's your airline doing now?

It wasn't about the four weeks. It was about the incredible difference in catering between a two hour KLM flight and a five hour Delta flight. The mentioned snack box was probably also handed out more than four weeks ago.

hereandthere41 wrote:

All four wheels are falling off the cart worldwide in this industry and ALL you guys can gripe about is the inflight service? Get a grip on reality.

We all know what is happening in the industry right now. I just replied to someone who thinks a complimentary snack box on a five hour flight equals good service.

For the coming months I expect nothing from the airlines. I am looking at probably sixteen cancelled flight. At least KLM (and other airlines) are offering free rebooking for an entire year on all flights and all destinations.

The US market is different and has different expectations.

Ziyulu wrote:

catiii wrote:

Ziyulu wrote:

How do you know this is a temporary change? What if it sticks? Not providing meals after 9/11 was not temporary.

You must not fly much. Many flights domestically have meals.

Really? I flew UA to Hawaii and the only thing served was a bag of pretzels. I guess if you count that as a meal.

im absolutely willing to bet that they didn't only serve a bag of pretzels. Every US carrier has been serving meals since 9/11.

Ziyulu wrote:

m007j wrote:

Ziyulu wrote:

This is just an excuse to cut costs. How hard is it to serve a snack by leaving it in the seat pocket?

Do you know how filthy the seat back pockets are? If you want cost cutting, no one is going to deep clean the seat back between each flight. If you thought it was bad just getting food from 1 FA, imagine how many other people's stuff you've touched when touching that seat back to get your snack.

There has to be a better way then. With more stores being closed at airports, many are going to be hungry on a flight. Not being served anything for 4 hours is torture. If they can provide a bottle of water, how much harder is it to add a snack box?

You can tell these to all Chinese carries who no longer hand out any meals or drinks in flight except bottled water.

I think you'd better stop this nonsense right now.

Michael

smokeybandit wrote:

Is it COVID-driven? Or economics driven using COVID as a scapegoat?

Both. Some elements will be temporary but as with 9/11 we will see some elements become permanent.

Flanker7 wrote:

This is not cost driven but to minimize exposure to crew. Its happening in Europe as well. KLM on European flights will make sure that a sandwich and water is placed on the seat prior to boarding and will ask passengers to even take their own trash from board. All this to limit the time spent in the cabin for crew. Longhaul is adjusted as well, same meals throughout all classes with no drinks services other then water runs. These are covid measures to protect crew nothing else.

The point is that once it is taken away it rarely comes back. I can definitely see all airlines charging for anything other than water from here on out.

WayexTDI wrote:

n7371f wrote:

Everything is COVID driven. Not privy as to how much the health factor factors Into that extreme service pullback but one can guess it further limits touch points and Interactions.

And as for for recent feedback, it’s within last 9-12 days as pandemic grows.

Raises interesting point: why would anyone bother paying for first class now. The coach section is going to be empty anyway creating loads of space.

WayexTDI wrote:

Don't you think it has more to do with COVID-19???


I don't know how "recent" or what proportion "most passengers" exactly mean; but, my observation onboard DL flights is that it's extremely rare that people only take water. Most who do ask for it as a "side" drink because they are thirsty as heck (including me), but they also take a soda/coffee/tea/adult beverage.

No business (especially not DL who is very customer satisfaction driven) will make such drastic changes permanent based on 9-12 days worth of feedback (especially since those days already saw drastic reduction in passengers).
This is purely health-driven. Remember also that DL has contracts with soda and beer manufacturers that must be honored; stopping permanently the serving of sodas (mainly) would mean DL has to void the contract and most likely pay penalties.

Agree 100%. This most definitely is to first and foremost mitigate the spread of the virus and a TEMPORARY cost cutting measure. It may very well be in place for a few months or so after this is over. But it becoming permanent is just silly.

I just flew Southwest back from Hawaii to the east coast the other day. Three flights. We didn't even get water! When we got to Baltimore starving and thristy, the flight crew had the captain go get Maconalds for them, while the other seven passengers and I just watched.

eamondzhang wrote:

Ziyulu wrote:

m007j wrote:

Do you know how filthy the seat back pockets are? If you want cost cutting, no one is going to deep clean the seat back between each flight. If you thought it was bad just getting food from 1 FA, imagine how many other people's stuff you've touched when touching that seat back to get your snack.

There has to be a better way then. With more stores being closed at airports, many are going to be hungry on a flight. Not being served anything for 4 hours is torture. If they can provide a bottle of water, how much harder is it to add a snack box?

You can tell these to all Chinese carries who no longer hand out any meals or drinks in flight except bottled water.

I think you'd better stop this nonsense right now.

Michael

Have Chinese carriers really stopped serving meals and snacks during this time?

I mean, as long as the ticket prices are 20-30% lower, I'm fine with it.

ewt340 wrote:

I mean, as long as the ticket prices are 20-30% lower, I'm fine with it.

Let’s watch this price point 3 6 9 12 months from now. Airlines are regulated and treated as natural monopolies. If the US3/WN contract, the start up costs are still sky high for new entrants and there won’t be an innovator or downward price pressure. Fares will go up. If Uncle Sam does take an ownership stake maybe we can vote on service levels and fees that are charged?

pwm2txlhopper wrote:

I just flew Southwest back from Hawaii to the east coast the other day. Three flights. We didn't even get water! When we got to Baltimore starving and thristy, the flight crew had the captain go get Maconalds for them, while the other seven passengers and I just watched.

That's normal on WN. Pilot says "I'm getting food from XYZ, does anyone want anything?" IF you ask really nicely and give them money, sometimes a pilot will get you food too.

How did you fly Hawaii-East Coast, past BWI in one day?

Most US airlines don't want to fly. They'd prefer to put this entire thing on the ground. That's why midnight oil was being burned with Airlines for America for days. But with the passing of the bailout, they have to fly - and they can't drop cities until early fall I believe.

It's interesting to hear WN CEO Kelly say tonight he's not sure about taking the bailout while also saying there's not a single flight that's profitable and the loss is significant.

TTailedTiger wrote:

Flanker7 wrote:

This is not cost driven but to minimize exposure to crew. Its happening in Europe as well. KLM on European flights will make sure that a sandwich and water is placed on the seat prior to boarding and will ask passengers to even take their own trash from board. All this to limit the time spent in the cabin for crew. Longhaul is adjusted as well, same meals throughout all classes with no drinks services other then water runs. These are covid measures to protect crew nothing else.

The point is that once it is taken away it rarely comes back. I can definitely see all airlines charging for anything other than water from here on out.

They could, I am not for all these comparisons made here like 9/11 etc. Maybe a bit more trust in the airlines intentions is needed, let's first ride out the storm and see what happens.

Ziyulu wrote:

eamondzhang wrote:

Ziyulu wrote:

There has to be a better way then. With more stores being closed at airports, many are going to be hungry on a flight. Not being served anything for 4 hours is torture. If they can provide a bottle of water, how much harder is it to add a snack box?

You can tell these to all Chinese carries who no longer hand out any meals or drinks in flight except bottled water.

I think you'd better stop this nonsense right now.

Michael

Have Chinese carriers really stopped serving meals and snacks during this time?

If you only bother checking.

Even on 14hr flight absolute no more food after take off. Food is all prepacked and left on seats before boarding. Drink is limited to water bottles and even that they normally leave on the seats before takeoff. I have witnessed plenty of examples of that and I can tell you the prepacked food is cr@p.

Michael

irelayer wrote:

CobaltScar wrote:

Passengers should want this. Or do you really need a cup of coffee that has a lid pressed down on it by the gloved hand of a FA that has been doing tons of other things with that same gloved hand? Or ice for a coke that was scooped up with a small tool that has the FAs hand inside the ice bucket??


Oh and lets not forget many of these same FAs are expected to dig into seat back pockets and cross seatbelts between flights too. And with how catchy this thing is, well...

Oh this is the worst...when they touch the entire rim of the cup to hand it to you. Why do people do this? WN is the worst offender because they bring things out in trays. I'm talking before the current situation.

Also, ice and limes/lemons are one of the worst when it comes to food handling cross contamination potential...

Yeah, its a really bad look when any server type touches the rim of your cup. SWA (and formerly B6 before they switched to carts) with their dumb trays almost force the FAs to grab cups from the top like that since all the cups are so close together.

I always say no to lemon/lime in my drinks anywhere I go, you just know that most of the time they are grabbing that wedge behind the scenes with their hands. B6 uses dried powered lemon and lime you can put in yourself, much much cleaner and better.

chrisair wrote:

pwm2txlhopper wrote:

I just flew Southwest back from Hawaii to the east coast the other day. Three flights. We didn't even get water! When we got to Baltimore starving and thristy, the flight crew had the captain go get Maconalds for them, while the other seven passengers and I just watched.

That's normal on WN. Pilot says "I'm getting food from XYZ, does anyone want anything?" IF you ask really nicely and give them money, sometimes a pilot will get you food too.

How did you fly Hawaii-East Coast, past BWI in one day?

I laid over in California after a late night arrival the night before. Then caught a second flight the next morning.

KOA-SJC-SAN-DEN-BWI-PWM. Would have been nice to get a can of water at least.

What do you mean no airline makes such drastic changes based on 9-12 days of feedback?

During that time, the passenger reservations plummeted - so plans were made to park 70% of the fleet. The in-flight service changes were, in part, due to the reduction of load factors below 20%, the unknown health risks/concerns and, yes, the feedback from in-flight and the accounting of post-flight catering that the few flights operating where grossly over catered, and more importantly, overweight.

WayexTDI wrote:

n7371f wrote:

Everything is COVID driven. Not privy as to how much the health factor factors Into that extreme service pullback but one can guess it further limits touch points and Interactions.

And as for for recent feedback, it’s within last 9-12 days as pandemic grows.

Raises interesting point: why would anyone bother paying for first class now. The coach section is going to be empty anyway creating loads of space.

WayexTDI wrote:

Don't you think it has more to do with COVID-19???


I don't know how "recent" or what proportion "most passengers" exactly mean; but, my observation onboard DL flights is that it's extremely rare that people only take water. Most who do ask for it as a "side" drink because they are thirsty as heck (including me), but they also take a soda/coffee/tea/adult beverage.

No business (especially not DL who is very customer satisfaction driven) will make such drastic changes permanent based on 9-12 days worth of feedback (especially since those days already saw drastic reduction in passengers).
This is purely health-driven. Remember also that DL has contracts with soda and beer manufacturers that must be honored; stopping permanently the serving of sodas (mainly) would mean DL has to void the contract and most likely pay penalties.

WN not serving any food or beverage is totally unacceptable in this situation. When LH had catering issues in Europe, they offered passengers vouchers to buy airport food. I doubt WN is doing that. I remember seeing WN catering trucks on the apron with the words "Free Snacks" proudly displayed. I wonder if the advertisements are still there. For this reason, WN will not get any of my personal business going forward even after this pandemic.

There are 'entree' type meals which have long shelf life (3 days), which are economical, nutritious, tasty, and easy to serve, easy to eat, some vegan, vegetarian, no gluten, some which can be served cold, room temperature, or hot. When I suggested that this sort of meal should be offered in Y class (included or buy on board) in the technical forum I was pretty much shot down. I put it in technical because it was, er, technical. What do humans generally need on flights of certain duration and times, some of it relates to comfort. Also I considered what the crew can do with minimal effort. The simplest one is roasted veggies, acceptable to everyone, meat could be added.

frmrCapCadet wrote:

There are 'entree' type meals which have long shelf life (3 days), which are economical, nutritious, tasty, and easy to serve, easy to eat, some vegan, vegetarian, no gluten, some which can be served cold, room temperature, or hot. When I suggested that this sort of meal should be offered in Y class (included or buy on board) in the technical forum I was pretty much shot down. I put it in technical because it was, er, technical. What do humans generally need on flights of certain duration and times, some of it relates to comfort. Also I considered what the crew can do with minimal effort. The simplest one is roasted veggies, acceptable to everyone, meat could be added.

What I notice on these forums is anything you criticize on a North American carrier, there will always be a justification on why it is. The airlines are never to blame on poor service standards.

n7371f wrote:

What do you mean no airline makes such drastic changes based on 9-12 days of feedback?

During that time, the passenger reservations plummeted - so plans were made to park 70% of the fleet. The in-flight service changes were, in part, due to the reduction of load factors below 20%, the unknown health risks/concerns and, yes, the feedback from in-flight and the accounting of post-flight catering that the few flights operating where grossly over catered, and more importantly, overweight.

WayexTDI wrote:

n7371f wrote:

Everything is COVID driven. Not privy as to how much the health factor factors Into that extreme service pullback but one can guess it further limits touch points and Interactions.

And as for for recent feedback, it’s within last 9-12 days as pandemic grows.

Raises interesting point: why would anyone bother paying for first class now. The coach section is going to be empty anyway creating loads of space.

No business (especially not DL who is very customer satisfaction driven) will make such drastic changes permanent based on 9-12 days worth of feedback (especially since those days already saw drastic reduction in passengers).
This is purely health-driven. Remember also that DL has contracts with soda and beer manufacturers that must be honored; stopping permanently the serving of sodas (mainly) would mean DL has to void the contract and most likely pay penalties.

Which just goes into the theory that this is temporary and only linked to COVID-19; once the crisis is over, there are great chances on-board service will return to normal.

WayexTDI wrote:

PSU.DTW.SCE wrote:

I wasn't calling you an idiot.
I realize there are people that are traveling for critical matters. They have my full support and there are just reasons why they should and have to fly.

However, there are a few clueless idiots in denial that are still traveling for pointless leisure purposes thinking they should still go to rent the VRBO in Florida or a few others doing mileage runs. Those are the clueless idiots.

Can you drop the "idiot" naming? It just makes you appear as a condescending know-it-all.

I think "idiot" is a pretty good qualifier for someone getting into a plane for no good reason.

I think a lot of people on here are missing the point of the service reductions. While some may think it’s a cost saving exercise, in fact it is costing the airlines. A good deal of revenue was generated by BOB and alcohol sales which is now lost.

The point of this service reduction is to reduce the possibility of virus transmission between the Flight Attendants and between the passengers. If the virus can survive several hours on a credit card, think of the possibilities for transmission between and among the passengers every time a sales transaction is made. F/A to passenger to F/A, etc. It is not inconceivable to picture one infected credit card infecting the whole aircraft.

The airlines in Canada have been given guidelines by CARAC as directed by the WHO on how to enhance health safety in such a confined environment. It is fascinating as it outlines about 50 ways to make things safer. Line number one is to limit contact between the Flight Attendants and the passengers.

These new service methods are one way to limit contact. I understand announcements are being made in the terminals to forewarn passengers allowing them to make other arrangements. If travel is vital, this is one way to make it safer.

I'm okay with BOB stopping, but at least provide something to the passengers. Not serving anything on a flight from Hawaii is definitely unacceptable regardless of what type of carrier you are.

Ziyulu wrote:

I'm okay with BOB stopping, but at least provide something to the passengers. Not serving anything on a flight from Hawaii is definitely unacceptable regardless of what type of carrier you are.

What is the difference between not providing a snack on EWR-SAN vs LAX-HNL?

jetmatt777 wrote:

Ziyulu wrote:

I'm okay with BOB stopping, but at least provide something to the passengers. Not serving anything on a flight from Hawaii is definitely unacceptable regardless of what type of carrier you are.

What is the difference between not providing a snack on EWR-SAN vs LAX-HNL?

Both are unacceptable. If it was Air Asia or Ryan Air, I understand, but not on full service carriers.

Ziyulu wrote:

jetmatt777 wrote:

Ziyulu wrote:

I'm okay with BOB stopping, but at least provide something to the passengers. Not serving anything on a flight from Hawaii is definitely unacceptable regardless of what type of carrier you are.

What is the difference between not providing a snack on EWR-SAN vs LAX-HNL?

Both are unacceptable. If it was Air Asia or Ryan Air, I understand, but not on full service carriers.

Why is it the airline's obligation to provide you with food? If you can't go 5 hours without eating there are options in the terminal to either bring on board or eat while you wait to board. Me, personally I find it awkward eating on an airplane anyway. The tray tables are way too small and you can't spread your arms out without bumping the person next to you.

Airlines struggling, employees getting laid off, or furloughed, manufacturers struggling, handling companies and contractors going under, and airports losing service...The entire industry, turned upside down.

But the pressing issue is that some of you can't go more than 3 hours without a full meal. Disgusting.

FGITD wrote:

Airlines struggling, employees getting laid off, or furloughed, manufacturers struggling, handling companies and contractors going under, and airports losing service...The entire industry, turned upside down.

But the pressing issue is that some of you can't go more than 3 hours without a full meal. Disgusting.

The American people just gave the airline industry a $50B bailout - AGAIN. We can't have any expectations in return?

ryhops wrote:

FGITD wrote:

Airlines struggling, employees getting laid off, or furloughed, manufacturers struggling, handling companies and contractors going under, and airports losing service...The entire industry, turned upside down.

But the pressing issue is that some of you can't go more than 3 hours without a full meal. Disgusting.

The American people just gave the airline industry a $50B bailout - AGAIN. We can't have any expectations in return?

The bailout was designed to protect the millions of American jobs that the industry supports, not to provide you with grub on your next flight. And given how few people are traveling, it’s better to conserve resources - no need to fill dumpsters with unused meals, when millions of Americans can barely make ends meet.

ryhops wrote:

The American people just gave the airline industry a $50B bailout - AGAIN. We can't have any expectations in return?

In return for your $50B, you are getting safe transport from A to B for those that require it.

Let’s face it, countries that are having some success fighting COVID-19 are limiting and restricting any and all gatherings of more than 10 people. Restaurants are closed and grocery stores are limiting the number of customers. All other venues, arenas, schools, universities, churches, etc are closed.

An aircraft cabin is the absolute worst for virus transmission. Other than grounding all flights, these WHO guidelines are one way to allow them.

Again. It has nothing to do with dollars and everything to do with YOUR safety.

Ziyulu wrote:

When I flew AA from DFW to AUS in 2016, not even a drink was provided. When I flew UA from AUS to IAH, only a cup of water was offered.

Holy smokes those are like :20 minute sectors, I think the Filet Mingon would be a little too much to ask on such short distances.

jetmatt777 wrote:

Ziyulu wrote:

jetmatt777 wrote:

What is the difference between not providing a snack on EWR-SAN vs LAX-HNL?

Both are unacceptable. If it was Air Asia or Ryan Air, I understand, but not on full service carriers.

Why is it the airline's obligation to provide you with food? If you can't go 5 hours without eating there are options in the terminal to either bring on board or eat while you wait to board. Me, personally I find it awkward eating on an airplane anyway. The tray tables are way too small and you can't spread your arms out without bumping the person next to you.

Who's talking about food? It's been reported that Southwest isn't even providing water on Hawaii flights. That's not ok.

TTailedTiger wrote:

jetmatt777 wrote:

Ziyulu wrote:

Both are unacceptable. If it was Air Asia or Ryan Air, I understand, but not on full service carriers.

Why is it the airline's obligation to provide you with food? If you can't go 5 hours without eating there are options in the terminal to either bring on board or eat while you wait to board. Me, personally I find it awkward eating on an airplane anyway. The tray tables are way too small and you can't spread your arms out without bumping the person next to you.

Who's talking about food? It's been reported that Southwest isn't even providing water on Hawaii flights. That's not ok.

And it's now official on Southwest's website:

Snack and beverage service temporarily suspended on all flights – Updated March 24, 2020 at 6:40 p.m. CT.
The well-being of our Customers and Employees is our uncompromising priority onboard every Southwest flight. In accordance with health officials’ recommendations to limit close public interactions during the coronavirus (COVID-19) outbreak, Southwest is temporarily suspending all onboard beverage and snack service from Wednesday, March 25, 2020 until further notice.

pwm2txlhopper wrote:

I just flew Southwest back from Hawaii to the east coast the other day. Three flights. We didn't even get water! When we got to Baltimore starving and thristy, the flight crew had the captain go get Maconalds for them, while the other seven passengers and I just watched.

How many points between Hawaii and Baltimore did you come across a open kiosk, vending machine? Because of this COVID issue SWA has halted the service of all drinks, snacks on their planes, not the crew. From my understanding, if you asked for some water, and they have it on the plane, they will give it to you..

For those who are flying during this time, thank you for your cooperation, thank you for your support, and I am sure you can understand why things are well out of the normal..

For those who are flying and complaining about lack of drinks and snacks, did you get to your destination safely?

Can you imagine 5 star airlines doing this? Like SQ, NH, or JL? I don't think so. If I were SkyTrax, any airline that cuts back on food or drink offerings during this time should automatically lose one star.

Wow just wow... you are embarrassing yourself here.

Have some perspective on just what is going on here.

Ziyulu wrote:

Can you imagine 5 star airlines doing this? Like SQ, NH, or JL? I don't think so. If I were SkyTrax, any airline that cuts back on food or drink offerings during this time should automatically lose one star.

You’re really not reading what is on this thread, are you?

If SQ, NH and JL, are not respecting these WHO guidelines, then they are displaying very little regard for the safety of their Flight Attendants and their passengers. I find it odd that you feel “maintaining a skytrax star” is more important than the lives of those involved.

It is also disturbing that the Flight Attendants may not even have the luxury of avoiding a dangerous situation, depending on the labour laws of where they live.

As far as ignoring the problem goes. Think about the forecast 100,000 COVID-19 deaths in the United States, in the name of turning a back on statistics in order to preserve the economy. Don’t forget, things will be better by Easter, right?