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Pickle

grumpy puppy
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Indianapolis-Based ATA Airlines to Increase Flights with Optional Food Service

By Chris O'Malley, The Indianapolis Star Knight Ridder/Tribune Business News


Mar. 27 - ATA Airlines plans to triple the number of flights on which it serves $5 meals and may expand its menu to include restaurant-branded food.

The Indianapolis airline now sells food on 75 flights, mostly those of three hours or longer. "The next step will be two hours or more," said Pam Smith, vice president of in-flight services at ATA.

Expanded service should begin sometime this year.

The nation's 10th-largest passenger carrier started experimenting with optional food service last November. Earlier this month, it put food aboard flights from Indianapolis to Los Angeles, Las Vegas, Phoenix and San Francisco.

A number of carriers now offer optional food, including Delta and US Airways. Some charge $7 to $10 per meal.

ATA's strategy is to keep the price low, at $5. Any higher than that and the meals lose their price advantage over airport restaurants -- especially for passengers traveling with several children.

Smith said ATA is trying to gauge demand on individual routes so it doesn't overstock aircraft. The percentage of passengers who buy meals "I would say it's well over 50 percent, overall."

ATA won't disclose its total meal sales, but said the program has not cost it money. "I think it's definitely break-even," Smith said.

Other plans include adding menu choices, with an eye toward trends such as the low-carb diet.

"We're not only finding that passengers are more health- conscious -- that explains the popularity of the turkey wrap -- but we have also found they prefer foods they are comfortable with or are familiar with, which explains the popularity of the (salads) . . . salads such as the chicken Caesar, the Cobb salad or the chef's salad sell head and shoulders above everything else," said Sherry Cox, spokeswoman for Gate Gourmet. The flight kitchen supplies ATA's meals at Indianapolis International Airport.

Name-brand food also could be added at some point, Smith said. For example, United Airlines offers Bennigan's restaurant-branded meals.

Aviation consultant Michael Boyd, president of Evergreen, Colo.-based The Boyd Group, said he was skeptical about food service when America West launched a similar concept two years ago.

But selling food is a low-risk prospect, Boyd has concluded, for airlines that tap an outside firm to prepare the food and don't overstock. "As long as it's decent food," he said.

Kimberly Marshall of Boston said ATA's chicken wrap sandwich was better than a bare-bones chicken sandwich she had on another carrier.

"I flew American Airlines. There's was nothing like this," said Marshall, sampling ATA's olive- and dried tomato-loaded wrap at Indianapolis International Airport.

Time will tell whether passengers will embrace such California-style sandwiches -- with a sweet flavor and some dried vegetables that are hard to identify.

Business traveler Len Zickler enjoyed an ATA salad, loaded with cheese, eggs and foccacia breadstick. "Excellent. Very good," said the vice president of Indianapolis-based Coppinger Exhibits Inc., who is weary of the "peanut special" snacks that airlines hand out.

"Actually, it's better if they just add it (cost of the meal) to the ticket price."

ATA is adamant that the meals will remain optional. Smith said she hopes customers will appreciate the convenience value of the meals, especially those who race through the airport and don't have time to eat at an airport restaurant.

"It's value-added for a low-cost carrier," Smith said. "We think that sets us apart."

But it is unlikely that passengers will choose an airline "just because they have that veggie wrap," said Boyd.

Rather, food is valuable to the extent that it adds to a passenger's overall satisfaction, he added.
 

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