Rumour: MH to Cut Inflight Meals Beginning 1 October 2007

[Izanee 0]

big 'kemaluan' ..hahaha...

[DavidC 0]

wahhh, be careful of the word "kemaluan" ... added with "big" some more!

[H C Chai 4]

IMO, the packing can be simplified - the box does look quite 'posh', but it doesn't add any value to the passengers. So why not get rid of it and hand out the sandwiches to the passengers instead? Just like what BA do on short haul european routes. And have some spares ready to keep hungry passengers happy...

 

MAD-LGW on BA

Save some money on packing and spend it on improving the quality of the sandwich.

 

A sandwich should be enough for flight between 1-2hrs, e.g. BKI-KCH, KCH-JHB, SIN-PEN.

 

For flights between 2 and 3hrs, e.g. KUL-BKI, KUL-BKK, KUL-DPS, maybe add some fruits or crisps. SQ girls normally walk up and down the aisle with a basket of fruits, crisps and small sandwiches in between meals on long haul flights - MH can copy that.

 

Any flights more than 3hrs, e.g. KUL-HAN, KUL-MNL, I guess it is more appropriate to serve hot meals...

 

 

 

 

[Izanee 0]

well..MAS used to serve small sandwiches, snacks and ice cream during long haul flights in the past. its all gone now with the dreaded snek boks.

I agree with you HC - get rid of the packaging - put better quality sandwiches in it (bigger portion too) just like BA or KL and I'm sure it will be more acceptable. However, I don't know how much better it can be, bearing in mind the supposed 93% acceptance rate!

[KK Lee 5]

well..MAS used to serve small sandwiches, snacks and ice cream during long haul flights in the past. its all gone now with the dreaded snek boks.

I agree with you HC - get rid of the packaging - put better quality sandwiches in it (bigger portion too) just like BA or KL and I'm sure it will be more acceptable. However, I don't know how much better it can be, bearing in mind the supposed 93% acceptance rate!

 

Agree that the content (better quality, bigger portion) is more important than the packaging. As there is so much spin from mas corporate communication; without attractive box for pax to bring home left over, they won’t able to claim 93% acceptance level. However, in the next round of cost cutting, won’t be surprise the attractive box will be replace with shrink wrap for the environment.

 

 

Edited February 28, 2008 by KK Lee

[H C Chai 4]

bearing in mind the supposed 93% acceptance rate!

 

93% is not 100%, which means there is still room for improvement

 

Reduce packaging = less cost, that's in line with the BTP2

[BC Tam 2]

93% is not 100%, which means there is still room for improvement

Sounds so much like what the kids get when exam results are announced !

[V Wong 0]

Agree that the content (better quality, bigger portion) is more important than the packaging. As there is so much spin from mas corporate communication; without attractive box for pax to bring home left over, they won’t able to claim 93% acceptance level. However, in the next round of cost cutting, won’t be surprise the attractive box will be replace with shrink wrap for the environment.

 

 

 

Suddenly got this bingo moment. Could it be that the 93% acceptance level = passengers who accepted box i.e.did not reject it outright when offered by FA? Otherwise this piece of statistics is inherently inexplicable

[Andrew K 0]

well..MAS used to serve small sandwiches, snacks and ice cream during long haul flights in the past. its all gone now with the dreaded snek boks.

I agree with you HC - get rid of the packaging - put better quality sandwiches in it (bigger portion too) just like BA or KL and I'm sure it will be more acceptable. However, I don't know how much better it can be, bearing in mind the supposed 93% acceptance rate!

 

They did serve deli like sandwiches on my Auckland to kl flight last year. Looked substantial too. If i wasn't so sick i would have snagged one ice cream was served too. However, that was the dessert, not a post dinner thing. Which airline had snackbags at the gate for taking during boarding? Have that plus a hot sandwich wrapped in foil served on board from a basket?

[Seth K 3]

MH used to serve Haagen Daaz back then, it's either they forgot one for my flight or I'm just unlucky.

[H Azmal 0]

http://www.nst.com.my/Current_News/NST/Thu...icle/index_html

 

YEARNING to return to home soil after a couple of days overseas, a colleague and I boarded MH783 bound for Kuala Lumpur. As we were scheduled to land a little after eight in the evening, we welcomed the sight of the in-flight crew serving food after take-off.

At first glance, it looked like a child's meal. It was packaged like a popular fast-food meal, complete with a brightly coloured confectionery packet. A brief wrestling match ensued to subdue the package and to force the "meal tray" to yield its contents.

 

All hunger sensations disappeared when I saw the contents.

 

It was a handphone-sized baguette stuffed with some meaty goo and some vegetable wrapped in a mysterious looking bread.

 

Here's the fast-food concept rearing its head again. And it was cold. Gone are the days of: "Would you like chicken or fish, sir?"

There were no menu cards to explain this discovery, nor was it appetising.

 

I was presented with a choice none-theless: to eat or not to. Why would a company sell its services as Malaysian hospitality and not serve Malaysian cuisine? I would have been very contented with any Malaysian fare for dinner.

 

I understand this "gift box" offering is simplifying the in-flight crew's service delivery. But the cost-cutters have outdone themselves this time.

 

I was not impressed with the glitzy packages or the fusion-cuisine nonsense. All I wanted was safe, point-A-to-point-B travel, coupled with a decent meal on board.

 

At least your competitor makes me pay for my meal and I know what I'm getting, never mind its punctuality issues.

[Guest Michael]

Hello I feel upset about that complaint hey either that or the pax was just having a bad day.

[Rozhan 0]

The author of the letter speaks for many.

Edited March 6, 2008 by Rozhan

[Mushrif A 3]

Hello I feel upset about that complaint hey either that or the pax was just having a bad day.

 

Upset about what? I'm beginning to think that you actually believe that there is only one non-LCC airline in the world, i.e. MH.

 

[Mushrif A 3]

The author of the letter speaks for many.

 

Yup. That's the tune these days. The folks at the top of MH who thought that cold sandwic snackbox equates with a five star service are suffering from, quoting Izanee, "neurosyphilis".

 

So unless one gets those rare 70%-off fares or is restricted by time/schedules, it is best to avoid travelling Y on MH regionally (not that medium & long haul are that great these days). Avoid it like it's diseased - a treatment that I think is deserving for a corporation that misleads customers with 5-star hype and (normally) at 5-star prices, but actually provides a 3-star service. It is akin to Tune Hotels (OK, maybe not that basic, but you get the point) telling the world that it is a Ritz Carlton/ St. Regis/ Kempinski etc, with comparable rates ...

 

[Izanee 0]

The author speaks for most of us here. It is just disgusting to pay so much and then see the snek boks in front of you. I never saw so many complaint letters in the NST about MH - it has always usually been kudos to their great service or the occasional dissatisfied customer complaining about their still s#1t ground service.

 

One after the other, the letters keep coming in and still IJ&co stand firm about their 93% 'acceptance' rate - as the Iranians say - like a 'one legged chicken'.

 

 

Are they crazy or what? I have NOT seen even ONE letter in the NST about their lovely snek boks...even Michael has not sent one to NST. Are they the silent majority? I think not, knowing the psyche of most Malaysians who are always up for a GOOD deal.

 

MAS has demonstrated that they KNOW the best way to get rid of passengers...can they please show us how they can keep loyal pax?

 

I'm afraid the RM1.5 billion profit in a few years time is a pile of horse dung.

Edited March 6, 2008 by Izanee

[BC Tam 2]

..... a corporation that misleads customers with 5-star hype and (normally) at 5-star prices, but actually provides a 3-star service

Aren't you being a bit harsh on the 3-star service airlines ?!

I feel for those airlines that have code share obligations with MH and unwittingly inflict upon their paying customers what MH dishes out for 5* service !

I also feel for those award winning MH cabin crew who are duty bound to serve out those snake-boks, and I would imagine a few of them would have had to endure verbal abuse (at the least) for that

 

Wake up MAS - discard those boks ........ please !

[Izanee 0]

BC ...while we're at it...get rid of the self heat boxes too - small portions, poor choice, no taste and embarrasing for an Asian legacy carrier - a supposed five star one at that.

 

 

[Kenneth T 0]

BC ...while we're at it...get rid of the self heat boxes too - small portions, poor choice, no taste and embarrasing for an Asian legacy carrier - a supposed five star one at that.

 

Yes i agreed..it should be discontinue as soon as possible.

 

[Mushrif A 3]

...even Michael has not sent one to NST.

 

Are they the silent majority?

 

 

hahaha...that's funny. I was beginning to wonder if THE "Micheal" is a real person, and not an MH mole, supposedly based in down under, planted to fish for opinions & views in this online forum whilst always making a positive spin on anything MH.

 

I apologise to you, Micheal, if you are indeed a real person and just having a soft spot for MH. Even Izanee is guilty for picking on you.

 

Btw, on a more serious note, and maybe a bit off topic, thinking out loud on the term "silent majority", if these folks are silent, how does one know which side of the fence they're on. Why couldn't the silent ones side with the noisy minority? Another oxymoron I think. During these election-campaigning times, the term gets thrown around, like every other paragraph.

 

[Mushrif A 3]

Oh by the way, MH783 which the author (of the NST letter) travelled on is one of the BKK runs. Coincidentally, this week, a few friends travelled to BKK and I managed to convince them to switch to TG from their originally reserved flights on MH - after warning them and showing photos of the dreaded snackbox.

 

The airfare that they paid were virtually the same but not only did they travelled on widebody comfort (A300-600 & 772), they get to enjoy nice hot meals (nasi kunyit with chicken), appetizer, bread/butter & dessert. Proper legacy airline stuff and TG didn't even brag about whatever-how-many-star service.

 

But most importantly, MH did not get a sen of their money! MH did not deserve a single sen - not after taking customer goodwill for granted, not after misleading customers with 5-star hype but 3-star reality. The "avoid-MH-if-you-can-if-travelling-in-Y-regionally" campaign continues...

 

 

 

[Izanee 0]

good one mushrif! i want to see MAS prosper too but the way they are doing it as mushrif pointed out is by conning the rakyat (also foreigners). people will be seriously disappointed by MAS.

 

michael - i apologise for picking on you too if you're not a mole planted by MAS

[Sandeep G 1]

SANDEEP CONSPIRANCY THEORY:

 

The "snackbox" is a culmination of soaring costs at MH thence cost-cutting measures introduced by the BTP/BTP2...

 

I'm just taking a stab in the dark, but who wants to place a bet that the "snackbox" is merely a temporary stopgap measure that is actually a grand and stupendous notion to embarrass and focus the embarrassment on MH in a really suave case of "shielding the blame"???

 

Let me elaborate...

 

A core part of MAS' future is: FOCUS AND EXPANSION ON REGIONAL CONNECTIVITY.

 

This means, that in the next few years (very much so anyway) and indefinately into the future, MAS will be focusing its expansion and development into the Asian market. There are lots of routes within this market that fall under the

 

Now MAS KNOWS that it is competing against rivals such as CX, TG, SQ whom ALL provide hot meal service, yet MAS decides to provide its passengers with the infamous "snackbox"..

 

Ok i'll stop stating the obvious and get to the point...

 

LSG Skychefs was established when MAS Catering was sold off to private parties, with MH holding a stake in the new company. We ALL know that LSG Skychefs has been "ripping off" MH when it comes to hot meals.. we need not state the political connections such a company has, we all know already.

 

I'm pretty sure that LSG Skychefs operates on a contract with MAS... a contract that eventually will come up for renewal.... a contract that is perhaps, difficult to wrangle out of or renegotiate on such short notice, especially during such harsh cost-cutting times when the airline is yearning and struggling to make a buck.... Plus, the bosses at LSG mesti duit!!!! (raya/cny/xmas/deepavali can be very expensive you know.... must buy datuks son/daughter latest Nokia you know....)

 

The easiest way for MAS to radically cut costs in operations were in areas where it was being extorted - catering seems pretty high on the list. They can't renegotiate the contract without incurring penalites, they have to keep the gomen happy and they couldn't continue to pay as much as they were paying for hot meals that quite frankly were sometimes less than palatable anyway... So the stopgap measure - the "snackbox".

 

Ladies and Gentlemen, I am so confident, I want to guarantee you.. come the future, MAS will again provide hot meals - of a quality of days passed. It's only logical... how can an airline, from a country which PRAISES itself on cuisine, continue to provide dried up, funky looking sandwiches... We live in Malaysia my friends... the food is second to NONE! How can our own national airline do such a disservice to the nation... because they were getting extorted... and NOW, they are taking the arrow through their heart because they can't reveal the fact that they've been extorted - so they are weathering the storm... and once they are through it, NASI LEMAK, RENDANG, BI-HUN, MEE-GORENG! and of course a grand continental selection - will all be available. Sit tight, and continue writing letters of complaint to the Management. They hear you, but their lips are sewn shut!!

 

If I can buy some of the worlds best chicken rice in Malaysia for RM3.50 from the local kedai kopi, MAS can surely provide bulk quantities of it and similar foods for an even more economical price - they just need an economical and honest provider.. maybe even re establish MAS Catering to directly control costs again - who knows.

 

On On! And may I wish a slow and painful death to those that have forced the "snackbox" upon the airline....

 

 

BTW, somebody still making money lah, see how nice and stylo-milo the "snackbox" packaging is!! BRING BACK THE MENU INSTEAD!

[Mushrif A 3]

Thanks Sandeep for a different angle on the snake-box.

 

2 things though: savings on inflights meals in FY2007 was a miserable RM5m. Peanuts for a company that generates billions in revenue. But maybe this is not the full year impact which one may see in FY2008.

 

Secondly, I recall that LSG Skychefs may be undergoing some restructuring exercise at shareholder level. I'm too lazy to google it up but I think Brahims may be exiting, but am unsure if the acquirer is a real third party or if the proposed deal is at arms length basis. Maybe somebody more energetic can fill in the gaps.

 

Anyway, inflight meals are not the biggest cost component for MH. I honestly doubt your theory is true as it is like one swallowing poison to kill some worms in one's tummy. A lot more long term damage is done, and customer good will has eroded. I, for example, am actively campaigning within my sphere of friends and influence, against folks flying Y on MH regionally, telling them to switch to the competitor and have enjoyed 100% success thus far. But then again, going back to Sandeep's theory, though far-fetch, stranger things have happened in M'sia.

 

(like Pak Lah lied to rakyat on TV3 news..."no, we didn't buy the plane (A319CJ), we just leased it from PMB." Ok, maybe he wasn't lying, but just having a "blonde moment" as PMB=Khazanah=MoF=Gov=PM. But wait...he isn't even blonde. So, he must have lied.)

[Kenneth Chong WT 0]

Honestly, I havent been on those flights which serve the infamous "Snackbox".But it you compare with other US airlines...it is not too bad lar...

My mum and dad flew Air New Zealand between the islands and they were served juice and 50sen sized cookies.The crew would walk around with baskets and offering you cookies and sweets.My mum took two, my dad, being the "kiasu" type took a handful.It was like 8!! It was packed in clear plastic.Nothing to shout about but it had a very 'home-made feel" to it.

In US, most of the time they serve pretzels and a drink.So be thankful lar...

The reason we are complaining now is because before this...we were spoilt for choices.I use to have lamb and noodle on my KCH-JHB flight.My bro had smoked salmon once for appertizer PEN-KCH...all in Economy.

My best meal was a morning flight KC-JHB in 2002 when I was still a student in UTM.I had the omelete.There were mushroom and onion stuffing,folded nicely inside the egg.a tomato stuffed with mash potatoes on a bed of green peas and a sausage cut in two.Grands student's ticket,only RM95 one way.Priceless!

Maybe for short sectors like KCH-SBW/MYY/BTU,they could serve a piece of cake or a big piece of chocolate cookie?Instead of just juice.Not very good for the tummy.Sour!

Between KCH-BKI/JHB a chicken/beef puff or something hot but finger sized?I would love to see crossaint filled with ham and cheese or a simple hotdog with beef curry sauce on it.Or better still Chinese halal dim-sums....surely a hit!Halal "siew mai",Chicken Siew Pau, Chicken Loh Mai Kai!!

My 5 sen worth la...now no more 1 sen so cannot "2 sen worth"!!

Edited March 7, 2008 by Kenneth Chong WT