Posted on 05/27/2005 8:15:03 PM PDT by Arkie2
MINNEAPOLIS (AP) -- In the latest cost-cutting move by a struggling airline carrier, Northwest Airlines Corp. is nixing pretzels on its domestic flights, months after it stopped serving free meals. Beginning June 9, coach passengers who want anything other than soda will have to pay for it. They can get a 3-ounce bag of trail mix for $1. Northwest Airlines Corp. spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch said Friday the airline has no immediate plans to stop offering soda for free.
Ebenhoch said pulling the free pretzels should save $2 million a year. Northwest, the nation's fourth-largest airline, lost $458 million in the last quarter alone. Northwest operates more than 1,500 flights per day in North America and another 100 per day overseas.
Shares of Northwest rose 5 cents to $5.52 in afternoon trading on the Nasdaq Stock Market, where they have traded in a 52-week range of $4.20 to $11.83.
Delta Air Lines Inc. said in March that it was dropping its food-for-sale program, boosting prices on alcoholic beverages and eliminating pillows on many flights. As of April 3, the nation's third-largest airline replaced its food-for-sale program, which was launched on selected flights in July 2003, with a wider assortment of free snacks in coach class on most domestic and some Latin American and Caribbean flights of more than 90 minutes.
I bet with the pretzels there is a lot of waste - people who get them but don't want them. And what do they do with the un-distributed pretzels at the end of the trip anyhow?
Just a bit awkward. I'm pretty tall, and it would take some serious contorting to get my ear down to the arm rest where you plug those things in. There's no room for such contortions! Besides, I didn't want to see either of the movies, outbound or returning. I had my iPod, with audio books to listen to.
Mind you, the situation with overseas flights on non-US carriers is quite different. Anyone who's flown on Virgin Atlantic Airways or Singapore Airlines really appreciate their excellent Personal TV (PTV) systems that is installed for each individual passenger--including those in Economy class! 
Hummus is one of life's great pleasures!
I bring my own food and water, and my iPod, and a novel or two. It's a matter of survival.
I remember when traveling by air was something special, and even in coach class, you got meals that were really quite good, served on nifty plastic plates, but you got real metal silverware, and even these cool plastic salt and pepper shakers that you could take home as souvineers.
Once, when I was about 8 years old, they overbooked my flight from KC to NY, and they had to put me in First Class (I flew alone between my parents once a year since I was about 6). I was amazed at the service! There was a choice for dinner, steak or lasagne (I chose lasagne) and while I didn't get any of the free wine, they did keep me occupied with sodas! The food was delicious, and it was served on real china, and the drinks were served in real glasses.
I also remember that "real" meals were served when the flight would extend past a normal meal time, and they timed the meals to corespond to what you would normally eat. I once took a very early flight (I think it left at 6:30am, and they served a very nice breakfast of eggs, sausage, and pancakes.
Back then, they really catered to the businessman, and used meals to try to make the time spend on the plane a bit more pleasant. Those days are long gone.
Mark
Funny you should mention Amtrak.......that's the airlines future IMHO. Wonder if they'll call it AmAir ?
No, it won't - that's static analysis, just like Big Stupid Government uses.
It will lose them tens of millions of dollars in business due to poor customer goodwill as a results of being cheapasses with the pretzels. People will be pissed when they hear this one; I'd hate to be a stewardess trying to explain why I want to collect money for pretzels.
Stupid and shortsighted. Does Big Stupid Government run this airline?
Jet Blue has TVs in the back of the seats. And they give out Terra Blue Potato Chips.
And the price is excellent. The only thing is, I think they are owned by a leftist. But if they product is good, and reasonably priced, they deserve do well in the market.
Hmm, a McD salad and yogurt dessert would be pretty nice at 30,000 feet, with sodas/juice/coffee/tea still courtesy of the airline. Does the restaurant have a "fill it yourself" beverage station where you can get ice from a dispenser? (Get beverage with lots of ice, drink beverage, set cup of remaining ice in bag atop salad and dessert containers)
Thanks. But it's still annoying.
"...grew out of the old Teletype printers"
Should have grown out of an old Smith-Corona.
The keyboards have them, they're "hidden from view"
Here ya go:
I use my Thinkpad for my DVD I also have my Ipod and I put a bunch of CDs on my Thinkpad so I can plug in and listen to those as well.
I always sit in the back or exit row, next to a window, with no one next to me. I am my own self contained entertainment center.
They'll probably start confiscating all those things as dangerous weapons. I know they freak out at a bottle of water every time my tall blond daughter takes it on a plane. They make her drink some to prove she isn't bringing some nasty on board. She SO looks like the typical terrorist. Oops! I'm racially profiling, aren't I? She's actually a short 'swarthy' girl who looks like a swaety, shifty-eyed guy with a beard.
"Next step:"....
NOOO!
Next step is that you'll actually have to pay to talk to those overworked service reps at DTW.
Don't ever miss a flight on NWA if you're flying from Detroit Metro or Minneapolis. You'll spend over an hour waiting in line as the 3 reps try to fight a line of 100+ angry NWA customers (their anger level grows as they wait in line).
I can see them charging frequent flyer points to talk to the people on the phone, who are powerless to do much besides make excuses.
Hey, that oughta put em into the black.
I had peanuts on a recent flight. They even gave me 3 bags of em. Course it wasn't a full flight.
Remember, swear to God, piano's on some flights? I've actually flown on 747's from DFW to NY or LA. Plenty of room.
Flying is now torture. Thank God, my shoes were recently "cleared" for a recent flight. One insane fruitcake tries to blow up himself and a plane with his shoes and now millions have to suffer the indignity and inconveinence of taking their shoes off for a "safe" flight. What if Mr. Islamofruitcake had a bomb in his underwear, jockstrap or bomb-O-condom? What if it had been a woman with a bra bomb or maybe Eve Kensler with a vagina bomb? Would every woman going through "security" have to bare her breasts to board? How far are they going to go?
God forbid they should actually "profile" somebody who might actually be a Islamofascist terrorist type instead of the Golden Ladies lawn bowling league team or the stamp collectors club convention. Why are the Israeli's so good at security? Because they profile.
Gosh, I seem to be on a rant. That's what flight "security" will do to you.
I doubt that anyone is allergic to peanuts. But there are a hell of a lot of people that want to feel special, so they make this bogus claim so they can be treated as victims.
I don't understand why they do this, but I know they do.
Southwest Airlines flight attendants can be a blast... Their instructions on the safety devices are great in a lot of cases. A few weeks ago I flew SW to OKC, and as we were getting ready to pull out of the gate, one of the flight attendants said, "Attention... Someone lost their wallet. Can you check to see if your wallet is missing? Now that I have your attention..." and he launched into the safety spiel.
When describing the oxygen masks, he said some really funny stuff, especially about traveling with children, or adults who act like children! "And if you're traveling with more than one child, I'd suggest you take this time to think about which child has the greatest potential, and be sure to secure that child's mask first!"
They pretty much had the entire cabin cracking up.
Mark
LOL! Didn't even notice. It's late. Maybe I'll just bounce off to bed.
"Hey Miss, would you bring me another drink just like the last one and, by the way, there's a gremlin out on the wing
trying to put out an engine."
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