This month, United Airlines has restored buy-on-board service to a select flights. Several flight attendants have reached out to me in concern over this move, noting it comes as the number of reported COVID-19 cases is again surging in the United States. Is United bringing back buy-on-board service too quickly?
United Airlines Buy-On-Board Service Has Resumed On Select Routes
Snacks and drinks are once again available for purchase on flights departing Denver (DEN) to the following destinations:
- Boston (BOS)
- Chicago O’Hare (ORD)
- Honolulu (HNL)
- Houston (IAH)
- Los Angeles (LAX)
- Newark (EWR)
- San Francisco (SFO)
- Washington Dulles (IAD)
- Washington National (DCA)
This includes beer, wine, snack boxes, and the following light snacks:
- Think Jerky (beef jerky)
- GourmetNut Power Up Antioxidant Mix
- Lillie’s Q (buttermilk & sweet onion kettle chips)
- Pringles
- M&M’S
Flight Attendants Concerned This Will Lead To Extended Periods Without Masks
Each flight attendant who reached out to me expressed a similar viewpoint: the return of more food and beverages onboard is not safe right now.
One flight attendant also forwarded me an internal memo from Mandeep Grewal, United’s Vice President of Customer Strategy and Innovation. The memo essentially verifies this is a widespread concern and offers United’s take on the issue.
First, United promises to run all changes to onboard service by the Cleveland Clinic:
Some of you shared concerns that more food and beverage onboard means more customers without masks for longer periods of time. We are working hard to maintain a safe environment while providing customers an enjoyable travel experience. You have my commitment that we will be thoughtful with our testing and the reintroduction of for purchase food and beverage. We will continue to evaluate any and every change made and work with the Cleveland Clinic to ensure we are using the best cabin safety practices.
United Will Limit Passengers To One Alcoholic Beverage
Next, United promises to limit passengers to one alcoholic drink during each beverage service. Passengers will also be advised they can only briefly pull their mask down. Expect the following onboard announcement:
“As we begin our service, we’d like to remind everyone of the requirement to continue wearing your mask throughout the entire flight as recommended by the CDC, and required by United, to reduce the spread of COVID-19. Please only pull down your mask when actively eating or drinking and then promptly replace your mask over both your nose and mouth. In order to minimize the amount of time with masks off, you’ll only be able to buy one beer or wine each time we come through the aisle with the beverage cart. As a reminder, you must have your credit card saved in the United App in order to make a purchase. Thank you.”
Why Is United Bringing Back Food + Drink During A Spike In Reported Cases?
The memo also addresses why United is bringing back service now, especially as reported new COVID-19 are creeping up rapidly.
Many of you had this question, and it’s a good one. COVID-19 cases are up across the country and your concern is definitely warranted. That said, the reality is that customers are asking for more food and beverage choices, especially on longer flights. You may have noticed that many customers are bringing their own food on board – so it’s not that customers aren’t eating or drinking. We believe that by providing additional food and beverage choices, we can better control how long customers are without their face covers and have better control of what comes onboard, allowing for safer handling of trash.
Grewal seems almost apologetic for the fact that food and drinks have returned:
This will only be for select routes over 800 miles (DEN to hubs, BOS, DCA, and HNL), and we will limit customers to one beer or one wine for each beverage cart service to limit the time customers are without a mask. I also want to be clear, we are not restoring liquor on board. We will only offer beer and wine during standard beverage service like we do currently with other beverages.
My Take: Valid Concerns On Both Sides
I can certainly understand and appreciate why United flight attendants are concerned about the resumption of service onboard. There’s a bit of contradiction in the notion that customers are asking for it (probably because the majority of airport concessions remain closed) and the notion that it won’t be so bad because customers just bring onboard food anyway.
I expect we’ll observe more passengers eating and drinking for longer periods due to this change and acknowledge that can seem concerning.
But I cringed at Grewal’s peusdo-apology for restoring this service. With all the cleaning protocols and air filtration systems, airplanes are incredibly safe environments. Yes, when passengers are eating and drinking instead of wearing a mask, the risk of transmission for the virus (or a cold or flu) grows. At the same time, United is fighting for survival and buy-on-board service provides an important revenue stream. Furthermore, customers unprepared for their flight should be able to pay exorbitant prices for junk food if they are that desperately hungry.
CONCLUSION
Flight attendants at United are concerned about the return of buy-on-board service during this months in a trial out of Denver. Some are very unhappy about this. My take is that both sides have a point. If passengers are going to buy food and drink anyway, why shouldn’t United sell it? On the other hand, this will encourage more mask lowering onboard. Ultimately, though, flight attendants will need to get used to to the return of full service onboard…it will eventually come and the added risk of selling food and drink once again seems quite de minimis.
> Read More: United Airlines Moves To Contactless Onboard Payments
image: United
I hope the drink limit doesn’t apply to FC!
Your conclusion is inappropriate.. get used to it. Flight attendants control liquor consumption on board.
I just got back from a Hawaii flight and passengers are using the eating and drinking as a means to keep their masks off for extended periods. The man next to me had “2” meals during a 6 hour flight and kept his mask off for 45 minutes each time despite my discomfort. The attendents made no effort to encourage people to wear their masks. It is ridiculous that people can’t go a few hours without eating and drinking and are willing to risk their health and other people’s health for their self gratification. I won’t get on an airplane again during the pandemic and maybe for a while longer…not worth dying for.
Probably best for you not to fly, if you feel that way. Completely agree with you.
Btw, to give you peace of mind after your flight, you know that getting infected does not mean that you die or even get sick. Check what WHO said about mortality for covid.
What prompted you to fly to HI in the first place? No surprise that not everyone is wearing masks for me.
Stay safe
Vicky (You stupid cow) should stay home and dont fly at all…drive the country side… its whiners like YOU ….
And we wonder why the daily infection rates are soaring and death rate is climbing? America is still in denial that this is a deadly virus and has taken 250k people already. Personal discipline and societal responsibility shows callousness, deceit and total selfishness which are all anti-American. Wake up fellow citizens, virus is still here!
In other news, more than 2.4 million have died from other causes than covid (per CDC). Mortality from all causes for people under 65 has been right at historic averages for the last few weeks (even with rising infections).
I think that there needs to be some perspective and consideration of data and not only fear mongering. Most people with infections will NOT die or get sick.
Wearing a mask and common sense behavior will allow us to live a fairly normal live. Closing businesses because family gatherings cause more infections, just leads to mistrust and resistance as it is not logical.
We simply can’t isolate every person in the USA like China did in Wuhan
We just had a flight on United from Florida to Denver. Family in front of us wore no masks during the majority of the flight. Attendants walked by never requested the replace their masks. They were not eating.
L
I do encourage all flight attendants to stand up for their personal safety as well as their coworkers as food and alcohol is not a necessity for safety and enjoyment of a flight do not let the corporation use you as the pon to advance their priority for their personal gains
lol Ollie You are a dreamer 1.You do know there are over 100 000++ FAs laid off…
1.if current FAs aint happy they really should consider change of career.
2.The FAs whining’s would equal all these no-name sheeple with deadend warehouse jobs to be “concerned” about the inhumane conditions they work at (am sharing here first hand experience working in a pharaceutical co making foken handsanitizer from INDUSTRIAL grade alcohol that eats your lungs in no time, makes you puke and suffocate…I left) but I have over a 100+ ex-coworkers doing time there for a min wage….Id love to see all these whining FAs there in this warehouse…howlong they gonna last?…10 min…2 hrs….half-a-shift?…oh yeah and there’s no ID90 or exotic locations or free hotel nights….I worked with co-workers who were former teachers, bank tellers etc…so no…education wasn’t the issue here..)
So let me get this straight. All over the news they are telling us not to gather for the holidays with family members, and avoid flying. Now they want the F/As to serve food in an enclosed tube w/ recirculated air. Boggles my mind. Glad I retired, there is no way I would be flying w/ this virus spiraling out of control. The VP going to keep them safe my butt.
Probably best for the flight attendants to have a seat on the wing when so concerned about Covid. I have Flight Attendant friends fired in October, that would gladly take your place if your so scared. How about the honor system? Everyone goes to the galleys and gets what they like,and puts money in the till, while the FA take a Valium and lock themselves in the toilet.
The solution is clear. Any of the flight attendant that is a registered republican should not be provided any PPE on the flight but given an extra $50 and have to sign a form saying they will not use their health insurance if they get sick of covid since it is a hoax for them.
All other flight attendants should be provided with full PPE and full insurance benefits.
All those f/as opposed to service must be lefties supporting the bidet ideas. Haha
I have flown 3 times in last cpl weeks. By far majority of people I can see around me are constantly pulling masks down. As soon as flt attendant is gone mask comes down. So food or no food masks are not being worn. No one wants to do what is needed to solve this. Too many selfish lame humans
Those FA concerned… Quit!! Find a new hobby.
Good article Matthew. Though, can we update the style guidelines for COVID posts? I’m getting “surging” and “spiking” fatigue. Perhaps “an upswell” would be a nice change of pace? Or just “increasing”, leaving more severe words for when the rate of change is materially greater than average. Flu cases “surge” during every annual flu pandemic so there’s not much information content added from the current descriptors. I think “creeping up rapidly” though incongruous is a step in the right direction!
The flight attendants need to get over it. The union and the airlines are saying it’s safe. This is just old people who didn’t want to work in the first place complaining. If it was a real issue the unions would have put a stop to it. They need to quit if they are scared. The crews are required to wear a mask and gloves so they have little chance of getting it on the plane. Just lazy senior crews over 60 who should just GO!!
As an over 60 flight attendant, I can assure you that the lazy ones are not the ones over 60. Not even close.
But they lose more revenue when people don’t fly because they are uncomfortable being on a plane with people eating. Bad idea. (I’m a longtime platinum member.)
Hey Sam, can’t wait till you’re over 60 and we can jettison you onto the scrap heap of your Elitest beliefs.
@ Mike
Indeed so. I’m actually getting quite bored with the constant reporting on Covid. Exactly what action am I supposed to take if the rate increases? Wear two masks, wear it in bed? It’s becoming like a weather report that always forecasts rain.
Sadly, it is like not reporting on the election. Wish it wasn’t there, but it is. The virus has invaded all parts of our lives. We both, however, look forward to the day we don’t have to write about it any longer…
I just returned from Mexico on American Airlines. No food or beverage service was provided, yet everyone was allowed to bring food, snacks, and non alcoholic beverages on board the flight. If the concerns of the flight attendants is that there will be prolonged periods of people not wearing masks should the beverage service resume, how is that any different than people bringing their own items on board? On the same flight I was on, people in first class were being served whatever they wanted. Does covid not affect those who pay more for their flights? This whole non service is a sham in my book. The airlines still want you to pay the same amount for your flights, but provide zero service once on the flight, and the flight attendants are getting lazy.
Nothing will stop flight attendants from crying about doing their jobs … so sick of them !
These United Flight attendants are just a big laughing stock in the industry … god forbid they have to do their jobs and not sit there and read or play games on their phones.
Pathetic !!!
The flight attendants’ job right now is to be concerned about their own distancing. Too many clueless customers have no qualms about pulling down their masks and shouting in the flight attendants’ faces what kind of soda they want.
Service will return to normal when it is safe to do so. Meanwhile, cover that nose.
??????? What a stupid thing to say!
Jonathan,
What planet are you from? The ticket prices are way down in order to get people traveling again. No way are you paying the same as pre covid.
Also, when flight crews asks a customer what they want to drink you would be surprised at how many People feel the need to pull down their masks to answer them instead of simply speaking a bit louder. This totally defeats the purpose of wearing the mask in the first place.
I did a roundtrip IADLHRORD in the last 10 days on BA. PE out and F back. Strange days indeed.
The argument for mask mandates for COVID-19 is specious. If masks are so effective at preventing the spread of airborne pathogens, why weren’t we wearing them earlier? Influenza killed some 80,000 Americans two years ago. Why shouldn’t we wear them indefinitely? It’s not as if flus and coronaviruses were going to go away after COVID-19. There is always a cost-benefit analysis to be done. As much as safetyists might want to eliminate all risks at whatever the cost, that is neither feasible nor desirable. There should be a very high bar to surpass to take away people’s liberties. COVID-19, which could be managed with voluntary behavior to protect the most vulnerable, is nowhere near dangerous enough to cross that threshold. If people really valued their health, they wouldn’t allow themselves to become so fat. Fat is the real killer.
Fat is a killer, but why have many residents in East Asia worn masks for decades (at least since SARS)? Indeed, there is a cost/benefit analysis (I personally hate them), but the idea they don’t at least help seems totally spurious to me.
As I have mentioned numerous times before, I started wearing masks while traveling in January. That is voluntary action. The data on mask effectiveness, however, is inconclusive. I have discussed this at length with a doctor friend. Of course, federal health officials’ messaging on masks was very confusing, if not purposefully misleading. Fauci is on record admitting to lying about mask efficacy to protect PPE supplies for front line health care workers; a noble lie is still a lie.
My problem is not with masks themselves but the safetyist mentality that prioritizes assuaging irrational fears over individual liberties at all costs. The logic behind forcing people to wear masks for COVID-19 would mean wearing masks indefinitely since potentially lethal airborne pathogens are almost certainly never going to disappear.
Fat is a killer far worse than COVID-19 and it also makes COVID-19 much deadlier. Solving the problem of obesity requires voluntary individual action. Government mandates obviously cannot magically make people skinny unless you are willing to have concentration camps for fatties. Many Americans seem to admire the CCP’s apparent competence and ability to get results. They decry Trump as an authoritarian, the “literal” second coming of Hitler, and yet they give Xi a pass? Who is the real authoritarian? This is the danger of the insurgent left.
What did you and your doctor friend discuss specifically? Infection control measures? Rate and method of transmission in a regulated inpatient hospital? You can’t randomly throw cred out and skip all the details.
Masks are not perfect but coupled with minimum distance and ventilation, they are adequate for reducing spread.
This is really an honest question, are there areas where people are not wearing masks that is causing the cases to surge so much? I’m in San Diego and the numbers are increasing steadily even though it looks to me like almost everyone is wearing a mask in public. It would be really nice to understand how that is happening…are the cases happening in private, where people aren’t required to wear a mask, or are they happening even while wearing a mask? If it’s the first (happening in private) then what is the justification for closing down businesses where everyone is wearing a mask and not causing the surge?
I’m not opposed to wearing a mask, even on a plane which I have done several times this year, but I really don’t understand the surge if wearing a mask is helpful….so is it really helpful? Would things be far worse without masks?
Also, we are 8 months in to the pandemic and it seems like we are seriously lacking statistics on the situation…just as an example, how many people in hospital have a similar pattern? That seems like useful information and not completely impossible in 2020 with the ability to analyze and provide data within minutes on almost anything? How do we still not know other than “you just don’t know” or “it seems random” who will be most impacted to the point that the best solution is to ask EVERYONE to stay at home, rather than the most vulnerable?
You can thank the lack of leadership in this country on the lack of data. Why is John’s Hopkins and NYT where people go to get data instead of the CDC?
To your question, mask and a 6-8 foot distance is the key to minimizing spread. People think that masks or plexiglass alone are adequate. Distance is really the best ally.
@cargocult good words….. it’s “the flu”
Only a more deadly form of it. It was named COVID-19 BY THE MEDIA, who have proven themselves to be anything but trustworthy. And guess what EVERYONE, the flu always increases at this time of year.
Limit your sugar (AND FAT) get OUT in some fresh air (sans mask) . . .alone and expand those lungs.
We eat ENTIRELY TOO MUCH SUGAR (pastries, cookies, pies, confections, ad nauseam) this time of year.
And take VITAMIN C. This is not rocket science people, just good plain ole common sense. I too have become weary of the boy crying wolf regarding the media’s coverage of this FLU
AND the Gestapo mask police everywhere. Come on people we are being played BIG TIME !!! Open your eyes
Right, cause the seasonal flu every year causes a global pandemic and overruns the hospital ERs, no difference whatsoever…SMH.
Wait, you didn’t hear? QAnon said that masks were cool! You should totally wear one now!
The only way to ensure mask wearing 100 percent of the time would be for airlines to prohibit the onboard consumption of food and beverages altogether. That would be a PR nightmare if an airline was to try that. I don’t think that would fly as passengers would need to stay hydrated especially on longer flights. Nor should flight attendants police how long it takes for a person to eat or drink onboard. Another PR nightmare if airlines tried that. I think the airlines should just do away with any mask requirements and any passengers who choose to fly should understand they are doing so at their own risk which should be the case anyway pandemic or no pandemic.
This is what FRUSTRATES me about United FAs.. This may sound insensitive but why won’t they put on PPE like Emirates FAs and reintroduce service. It’s ridiculous that as a customer I buy a flight and get no / limited service. First FAs tried to get the government to bail them out. When that failed they want to work without providing any service!
When you go into cardiac arrest or need to be guided out of a smoke filled plane, you’ll learn what service flight attendants are trained to provide and why they are there.
As a former member of the Catering Operations crew out of Denver, I agree with the Flight Attendants, and disagree with United’s Management. The 3 years that I worked in the Catering Ops facility was filled with top down decisions being made. It is quite standard for UA to not listen to it’s employees and pretend that everything is ok in the world. UA is even known for making well intentioned programs; Core 4 was my favorite. That was designed to show the world that even though UA is one of the biggest airlines of the world it is can not make people happy at all as referenced to it’s consistent bottom feeder performance over several years, By designing a program that glosses over the real fact that upper management is disconnected to reality, has failed, not only the public it serves, but the people that depend on fair treatment by the employer.
Flight attendants are on the aircraft for safety and emergencies. Serving is not a priority.
Bad attitude. Are you a FA?
Masks don’t work and the virus is 99% curable! It’s not going away and I know many friends who had it and got over it and now have immunity. This is ridiculous Stop listening to the Fake News! I had the real flu in January You know The FLU that kills children! , middle aged and the Elderly! Stop panicking. Wash your hands & take multi vitamins with Zinc. Children face T cells do they don’t get it. Relax! The real worry is the fake news pushing the lies.
Your posts are getting more stupid by the week frankly.
You DO know getting Covid doesn’t give you permanent “immunity”, right?
To be safe and proactive, shutting down the airlines for 4- 6 weeks would certainly assist in minimizing transference of the virus.
Inside the planes as well as the terminals and final destinations, as many people are asymptomatic.
Stay home FA and pup in your diapers ! Corona is a regular flu ! All pandemic hoax is based on a big validated criminal pcr test. There is nothing and never will be anything. The producer of this test will sued next week for several billion on court and it will go into trillions. Airlines will be sued for mask mandates soon, since evidence for health and life treathening is available against mask mandats
I bet the FA tune will change if they were allowed to keep 20% of profit of the items sold.