American Airlines recently made “to go” coffee cups available throughout most of its lounge network, adding value by helping members save time and avoid the cost and hassle of waiting in crowded coffee lines in airport concourses. Delta and Alaska also have to-go cups and United Airlines did too…until they suddenly all disappeared last week. Is this another cutback from United?
First off, let me concede…yes, the first question who would ever want to take airline club coffee to go in the first place is a fair one.
United has been known to make stealth cutbacks without notice on little things that it believes consumers may fail to notice — like routing rules. My first thought was that United had once again put its colossal tone-deafness on display. But no, at least not how UA spins it now. After mounting criticism on Flyertalk and other sites, UA released the following statement:
This is not a permanent decision. We were forced to select a new disposable cup vendor with little notice and are in the process of reviewing potential suppliers. We are also currently reviewing coffee suppliers for our clubs. We hope to have a decision about both soon and appreciate your patience during this time.
Well, speaking from experience in the field of airline sourcing if UA is only “in the process of reviewing potential suppliers” it is going to be awhile before we see cups back in United Clubs. And new coffee too…which would be great if we can improve upon the gourmet Texas Mud-Poo that Smisek introduced after the merger.
For now, though, you’ll need to bring your own to-go cup or allow time for Starbucks.
picture courtesy of United Airlines
Here’s what those to go cups are used for…
http://viewfromthewing.boardingarea.com/2014/12/13/getting-written-american-inflight-disturbance/
lol