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Mohd Azizul Ramli

Rumour: MH to Cut Inflight Meals Beginning 1 October 2007

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The title itself screams its intention!

 

I received a text message from an aquintance who is a MH fan (as well), telling me that there is a rumour that our flag carrier, Malaysia Airlines is not going to provide inflight meals (hot meals in trays) anymore beginning 1 October 2007 for flights of less than 4 hours.

 

He mentioned that the inflight meals will be changed to only 'snackboxes' like those in TG. Reason being is of course, to cut cost in line with MH's new vision of becoming A 5 Star Carrier With LCCs Cost.

 

Is this rumour true? Can someone from the carrier confirms?

 

By the way, this is my first post in MalaysianWings.

 

Azizul

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Welcome !

 

Well, at least we are not expected to pay for it yet ! :)

The reaction to this, if proven true, will be interesting to say the least (our ever caring politicians especially)

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MH is being either really really really stupid or really really really smart.

Edited by Seth K

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Either way, you can bet your bottom dollar some people will claim to get very very very hungry if not fed for duration of a whole two hour flight !! :)

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By the way, this is my first post in MalaysianWings.

 

Azizul

Welcome to MW, Azizul!! And you come in with such a relevant issue indeed!

 

If it is true, there goes my "Excuse me miss. What's the other meal option? Chicken with rice? Can I have that too, please?" poser on unexpecting crew members.

 

The food boxes are a good idea too actually, especially during Ramadhan afternoon flights. At least we can 'tapau' the food home for iftar. Kan Meor, kan? :rofl: :rofl:

 

On the other hand, it can seriously damage the 5-star stature it currently holds. Besides it reminds me of my primary school days when foodboxes were distributed during the annual sports day. We had a curry-puff, a packet of sweets, a lukewarm packet drink and a bread roll.

 

But then again, if the take-away sandwiches have Harrod's label, then I guess it's okay. :pardon:

 

 

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Cut meal for flight less than 4 hours? thats suffering! even for flight 1 hour from wmkk to wsss without meal also suffering! i must eat onboard!! haha..

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Welcome !

 

Well, at least we are not expected to pay for it yet ! :)

The reaction to this, if proven true, will be interesting to say the least (our ever caring politicians especially)

 

well, we (the passengers) are paying for it... its a "full service" airline..

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well, we (the passengers) are paying for it... its a "full service" airline..

Very much subjective and dependant on a particular airline's interpretation of "full service"

I believe in time to come, distinctions between econ class travel on so called 'full service" airlines and LCC's will become less and less

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If that is true. I will definately not fly with MH anymore! What's the difference of flying AK? Their flights are less then 4 hours as well, and we can don't buy any food either.

 

To be honest, I really hate the statement made by them, "five stars airline with lcc's cost". Even as AK running LCC are using newer a/c as compared to MH! Five stars...

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So far no one from the carrier has confirms this matter.

 

I personally think, if MH were to proceed with the plan, they are going to go all out to maintain their 5 star status by emphasizing more on cabin staff's inflight services. The snackboxes that they may use, will not be of some cheap looking materials, which contain some cheap foods (like what I get here in almost all Indonesian carriers). MH may comes out with good snacks, which may be packed nicely inside the boxes, with generous size or quantity. But it is still a snack, so MH can saves a lot on inflight catering cost.

 

On the other hand, MH still need to consider what their competitors (especially SQ) offer on the same market segment (in this case, flights under 4 hours). If SQ is adding more quantity or size (and overall quality) to its inflight meals, then I guess MH will be on the losing hand if they were to proceed with this snackbox idea. I believe MH should keeps its product offerings on par with SQ to sustain in the industry.

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Then MAS should reduce the ticket price ...

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..... my "Excuse me miss. What's the other meal option? Chicken with rice? Can I have that too, please?" poser .....

Good one ! Got try this today ? Any success ? :lol:

 

Perhaps a more persuasive/assertive variation :

"..... What's the other meal option? Chicken with rice? OK lah, I'll have that as well !" :)

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tads rubbish!

MAS should not do that if they are really planning to!

 

I never heard of a 5 star airline serving no food for their customer although it is an hour or two flight.

 

hope it wont be true..it cant be actually..

 

this make no sense as i keep thinking..

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looks like a joke!!! are they sure about that decision? if they do that, I think they will be first airline like as you comments above. I never heard about only snack meals under 4 hrs!

 

probably you will see so many fastfood bags onboard :)

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Almost scream by just looking at the title, no matter what and how...i still hope that it isn't true :unsure: I really wonder what a 5 star airline may provide in their "snack box"...some biscuits, mineral water, candy bars or sandwiches???...oh no....

Recently, there's already quite a number of issues regarding MAS's inflight catering... good seat-pitch and service solely would not bring them far and keep them competitive in this industry....sigh

As I travel with MAS, the inflight catering used to be something that I've always look forward to (regardless how it might taste)....ya, really hate the statement "five stars airline with lcc's cost", stil have another 2 trips with MAS in oct and nov respectively....gonna wait and see how their snack box will look like if they really implementing it.... <_<

if that's really the case, then I might consider to fly AK more often.... :rofl:

BTW, this is my 1st comment in MW.... :D

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Either way, you can bet your bottom dollar some people will claim to get very very very hungry if not fed for duration of a whole two hour flight !! :)

I dunno, personally I never get hungry for flight below 4 hours since I ate at home plus while waiting for flight at the airport. Snack will do me just fine, but I dunno what's most preference out there. And also most of the pax when I flew onboard MH to MNL and CX to HKG refuse to have full meal.

Edited by Seth K

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I wonder how they maintain the 5 star airline if ssuch rumours are true. That will be really expensive for a BKI-KUL fare without a single meal :rolleyes:

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Huh, a 5 star airline with no star food? How can a 5 star hotel don't have a swimming pool?

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Based on the replies so far, I think some of us may have an idea that "a snack" is not filling (I am referring to those who quote 'going to be hungry during flights/no food during flights'. I think if MH goes for a generous size of snacks (for example 4 slices of thick turkey and egg sandwitches, a small KitKat, some (packed) crackers and peanuts and a small size 'Joy' orange/mango juice with a bottle of mini mineral water packed in a KFC's value meal size boxes) would be filling enough for flights under 4 hours.

 

Also, I think this snackbox idea will be only implemented in Economy class. So for those who travel on Golden Club Class, I think MH will still offer the usual 3 choices of full meals served in porcelain. Given the envisaged scenario, I think MH is heading towards the inflight catering like in the US domestic market (fellow MalaysianWingers Seth has affirmed this).

 

Regarding MH being a 5 star status airline, remember that the award was given by Skytrax, a passengers' poll-based survey. From what I gather, the previous surveys (which garnered MH's multiple awards) were contributed almost entirely on MH's long haul flights, which are of course, more than 4 hours. I think it wouldn't effect MH's 5 star status as MH can always claim that they still provide full service meals onboard Economy class (despite not per se).

 

Another point to note is that, Skytrax is like the 'People Choice Award', not 'Academy Awards'. That is why SQ didn't even bother to point out that they were Skytrax's Airline of the Year 2007. SQ regards Skytrax as a weightless award, as compared to Conde Nast for instance.

 

MalaysianWingers who will fly on 1 October 2007 onwards (including myself for Hari Raya) can help to confirm whether this rumour is true or not. Maybe it is true, but perhaps somewhere later.

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Looks like I will be transiting through Changi more often then...which is easily the most painless airport to transit through in the world.If this is true, I wonder what PR spin will MH use to justify the change?

At the end it's not being 5 star, it's the profit that benefit one for all
Sure, but with LCC service, 5-star imagination, can the yields be sustained? Who wants to pay a premium for LCC-treatment when SQ fares are just as competitive but with real 5-star treatment?The snack-box MAY work (despite potential reputational damage to MH) for flights to say, East M'sia, BKK, CGK, BWN, etc but to MNL, DPS and HKG? Might as well transit through SIN.

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By the way, this is my first post in MalaysianWings.

 

Azizul

Hey, you're finally here. Enjoy :p

 

 

He mentioned that the inflight meals will be changed to only 'snackboxes' like those in TG. Reason being is of course, to cut cost in line with MH's new vision of becoming A 5 Star Carrier With LCCs Cost.

It better not to be true. TG only offer those snackboxes on domestic flights (the longest is around 1 hour 20 minutes). TG is serving a proper hot meal (with very generous portions) on all of their international regional flights (except those to Vietnam, Cambodia, Myanmar, Laos).

 

 

On the other hand, MH still need to consider what their competitors (especially SQ) offer on the same market segment (in this case, flights under 4 hours). If SQ is adding more quantity or size (and overall quality) to its inflight meals, then I guess MH will be on the losing hand if they were to proceed with this snackbox idea. I believe MH should keeps its product offerings on par with SQ to sustain in the industry.

Not just SQ but TG as well. Many Malaysians are transitting in BKK nowadays to North Asia (including China) and Europe.

 

 

I wonder how they maintain the 5 star airline if ssuch rumours are true. That will be really expensive for a BKI-KUL fare without a single meal :rolleyes:

So true !!

 

 

Based on the replies so far, I think some of us may have an idea that "a snack" is not filling (I am referring to those who quote 'going to be hungry during flights/no food during flights'. I think if MH goes for a generous size of snacks (for example 4 slices of thick turkey and egg sandwitches, a small KitKat, some (packed) crackers and peanuts and a small size 'Joy' orange/mango juice with a bottle of mini mineral water packed in a KFC's value meal size boxes) would be filling enough for flights under 4 hours.

 

I think MH is heading towards the inflight catering like in the US domestic market (fellow MalaysianWingers Seth has affirmed this).

I think most people still prefer a full hot meal, serves in a proper tray. This is Asia, not America or Europe. Snackbox for flights under 4 hours is just cheap and substandard. How can you expect people continue to fly with you when you are offering substandard inflight services to your customers ?

 

 

Regarding MH being a 5 star status airline, remember that the award was given by Skytrax, a passengers' poll-based survey. From what I gather, the previous surveys (which garnered MH's multiple awards) were contributed almost entirely on MH's long haul flights, which are of course, more than 4 hours. I think it wouldn't effect MH's 5 star status as MH can always claim that they still provide full service meals onboard Economy class (despite not per se).

Meals on MAS long-haul flights nowadays are quite bad. If MAS still can sustain their 5-star status with such bizarre inflight service, then SQ definately deserves to be a 7-star airline.

Edited by Isaac

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