Rumour: MH to Cut Inflight Meals Beginning 1 October 2007

[S V Choong 4]

Anyway, i'll be flying MAS again on 15/4/08 (MH051) to KUL and back to BKI on 18/4/08 (MH080). Both flight will be operated by 772. This could be my last flight with MAS !!!! I'll start flying AK on a regular basis soon. MAS can kiss my arse goodbye.

 

Will be flying CX to HKG and BKK at end of the year, then returning to Sabah using AK from Macau S.A.R. (MFM). I guess I will fly with MH again only when things have improved....

 

 

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

Well, I disagree, I see this as the direction of regional air travel, once upon a time, I'm sure hot meals were served regionally in the states, Europe, Australia, you know, during the romantic glory days of aviation. But with the advent of LCCs, airlines all had to adapt to the competition, LCCs are new to this region, but their impact is surely being made. Like I said in my earlier post, I can foresee more of this happening in down the years. As for consumer behaviors, I'm a Malaysian and I don't mind it.

Until the day SQ serves snackboxes on its regional flights, I have to disagree with you on this point. I think South East Asia, Indian sub continent and the Middle East are NOT moving towards what is happening in the US and Europe. More frills are being added to the passengers.

 

On a second thought, perhaps comparing MH with the uber class SQ is not valid anymore because of the direction MH is choosing. I think I will make future comparison to MH with MI (SilkAir) which seems more logical. Still, MI - SQ's more destitute sister, is NOT serving snakcboxes on their flights.

 

You're taking it out of context, sure it's included in the ticket price, but I was making a comparison to other carriers, taking my experience with OS as an example, where they made me pay for my food (taking my wallet out a giving them Euros) on a regional European flight, a 1hr flight that cost me much much more than what MH charges you to KCH.

I am not taking it out of context. I still can't understand the relevance of comparing services on domestic flights in Malaysia with Austria (?). (It's your right to be happy to have to pay for your meals on OS eventhough you can get snacks and drinks for free if you fly LH or KL). From my understanding, the tone of your explanation is suggesting that 'it is ok for MH to charge premium fares with this snackboxes because since OS made you pay for your meals, it is the right things to do (for MH) because my flight to KCH is a 'much much more' cheap flight (?)'.

 

No, it isn't. I think I read somewhere that MH is making some MYR 40 million profit on domestic sectors (post domestic rationalisation) and with the introduction of the snackboxes, (only) MYR 5 million can be saved annually. I think if MH can still make this much profits from this 'much much more' cheap domestic flights, there's more that they can do to improve the meals service.

 

Taking a (more relevant) example from Indonesia's domestic flights, the reverse things are happening where LCCs here are competing each other to offer more (little) frills to their passengers. Snackboxes are serve for free here, Sriwijaya Air is offering variable snacks as opposed to a standard snacks offered by Batavia Air and Lion Air. Both Batavia and Sriwijaya has started to distribute free newspapers onboard their flights and it was handed in to each passengers personally on their seats (on MH, passengers have to pick up the newspapers on their own during embarking the aircraft at the door). Batavia is increasing the free baggage allowance for their passengers to 25 kg for each passenger (on AK it's only 15 kg, MH is 20 kg). More frills will be offered on LCCs as competition gets stiffer and even more frills will come about in the full service segment when Eagle Air took off the sky giving Garuda Indonesia a head's on competition.

 

Taking another (relevant) example from Thailand's domestic flights, Bangkok Airways/Siem Reap Airways (a low fare 'boutique' carrier) is allocating a lounge to ALL its passengers (in some airports) and only charges slightly more than FD (Thai AirAsia).

 

Therefore, in my humble opinion, I don't think MH passengers should be happy about this meal issue simply because Austrian Airlines (OS) makes 'their passengers pay for their food (taking out their wallet out a giving them Euros) on a regional European flight, even for a 1 hour flight that cost much much more than what MH charges on flights to KCH'.

[H C Chai 4]

Until the day SQ serves snackboxes on its regional flights...

 

Still, MI - SQ's more destitute sister, is NOT serving snakcboxes on their flights.

 

SQ and MI do serve snacks on some of their very short flights - e.g. SIN-PEN, SIN-KCH. The only difference is there is no 'box' and these snacks are served hot (or warm <_ before the introduction of snackbox mh catering on these routes are actually better than sq>

[Mohd. Helmi 0]

Until the day SQ serves snackboxes on its regional flights, I have to disagree with you on this point. I think South East Asia, Indian sub continent and the Middle East are NOT moving towards what is happening in the US and Europe. More frills are being added to the passengers.

 

On a second thought, perhaps comparing MH with the uber class SQ is not valid anymore because of the direction MH is choosing. I think I will make future comparison to MH with MI (SilkAir) which seems more logical. Still, MI - SQ's more destitute sister, is NOT serving snakcboxes on their flights.

I am not taking it out of context. I still can't understand the relevance of comparing services on domestic flights in Malaysia with Austria (?). (It's your right to be happy to have to pay for your meals on OS eventhough you can get snacks and drinks for free if you fly LH or KL). From my understanding, the tone of your explanation is suggesting that 'it is ok for MH to charge premium fares with this snackboxes because since OS made you pay for your meals, it is the right things to do (for MH) because my flight to KCH is a 'much much more' cheap flight (?)'.

 

No, it isn't. I think I read somewhere that MH is making some MYR 40 million profit on domestic sectors (post domestic rationalisation) and with the introduction of the snackboxes, (only) MYR 5 million can be saved annually. I think if MH can still make this much profits from this 'much much more' cheap domestic flights, there's more that they can do to improve the meals service.

 

 

Ok where do I begin,

 

Well, I'm definately not comparing MH to OS, you really can't because MH is not selling Y passangers food like OS, it hasn't gotten to that stage and I'm happy that it is so. What I was trying to illustrate was that there has been a substantial decline in frills in more matured aviation markets, where there has been greater liberalization for longer periods within these markets and true free market competition has taken root in the skies. It's interesting you note our region, the middle east and the indian sub continent as places bucking the "rot" (to quote BC tam) and introducing more frills, these regions are all examples where competition to their national airlines and liberalization of the skies has been a relatively new phenomenon. For MH to implement snack box, is a very bold move and in comparison to other national airlines which have been facing LCC competition longer, MH's product isn't too bad, following other experiences I think it suggests the inevitable (I know you disagree, just my opinion).

 

 

Taking a (more relevant) example from Indonesia's domestic flights, the reverse things are happening where LCCs here are competing each other to offer more (little) frills to their passengers. Snackboxes are serve for free here, Sriwijaya Air is offering variable snacks as opposed to a standard snacks offered by Batavia Air and Lion Air. Both Batavia and Sriwijaya has started to distribute free newspapers onboard their flights and it was handed in to each passengers personally on their seats (on MH, passengers have to pick up the newspapers on their own during embarking the aircraft at the door). Batavia is increasing the free baggage allowance for their passengers to 25 kg for each passenger (on AK it's only 15 kg, MH is 20 kg). More frills will be offered on LCCs as competition gets stiffer and even more frills will come about in the full service segment when Eagle Air took off the sky giving Garuda Indonesia a head's on competition.

 

Taking another (relevant) example from Thailand's domestic flights, Bangkok Airways/Siem Reap Airways (a low fare 'boutique' carrier) is allocating a lounge to ALL its passengers (in some airports) and only charges slightly more than FD (Thai AirAsia).

 

Therefore, in my humble opinion, I don't think MH passengers should be happy about this meal issue simply because Austrian Airlines (OS) makes 'their passengers pay for their food (taking out their wallet out a giving them Euros) on a regional European flight, even for a 1 hour flight that cost much much more than what MH charges on flights to KCH'.

 

I never said MH's passengers should be happy because of the levels of frills offered else where (I gave OS as just an example and not the reason why MH's passengers should be happy), I gave QF as another example where they only served me muesli and a soft drink, could have flown LCC-ish DJ for more value for money. Anyways, what MH is doing is not revolutionary, if snackboxes gives MH a few extra $$, then surely that's what they should be doing, it is a business after all (well supposed to be). Also, clearly by your reply, it's a safe assumption to say MH's passengers aren't happy. All that I am saying is that I am OK with it. It is a bold move, but certainly not without precedent in the airline business.

 

Oh, and let's see in 5-10 years where Indonesia is heading, the aviation sector there is getting crowded, it has only recently been liberalized, it was home to just a handful of carriers a decade ago. And don't quote me on this, but I do remember reading that when the transition economies of Eastern Europe first opened up to the free market, liberalized their airline sector, SkyEurope did once upon a time offered free meals, now with the plethora of other carriers such as Wizz and such, I guess through the pressures of greater competition, they don't.

 

[Isaac 0]

Will be flying CX to HKG and BKK at end of the year, then returning to Sabah using AK from Macau S.A.R. (MFM). I guess I will fly with MH again only when things have improved....

Great ! Avoid MAS at all cost ! Let's BOYCOTT them !

 

 

Until the day SQ serves snackboxes on its regional flights, I have to disagree with you on this point. I think South East Asia, Indian sub continent and the Middle East are NOT moving towards what is happening in the US and Europe. More frills are being added to the passengers.

 

On a second thought, perhaps comparing MH with the uber class SQ is not valid anymore because of the direction MH is choosing.

Agreed.

[Rozhan 0]

I feel like compiling pictures of the Light Meal Boxes and their tantalizing contents from the Internet, and shoot emails to friends and family. I will also encourage them to forward it to their contacts. OK, that's my last piece on this LMB thing.

[Ryan Soh 3]

You see ah...

 

MAS can serve whatever they like. BUT when you put it in a KOTAK, the perception of value immediately goes down the drain no matter how aesthetically pleasing it is to the eyes. Doing it for doemstic runs is ok because by and large, the international travellers (the experienced ones anyway) do know that the service frills lower slightly on these routes. However, if you dish that out on INTERNATIONAL FLIGHTS, tsk tsk tsk...

 

SQ/MI have very short flights to destinations like Penang, Pekanbahru, Kuching, Padang etc and a full hot meal is not served, but snacks instead. Do they use a box? NO! It is properly presented on a tray like you would if you had a hot meal. This shows that you still have pride in your presentation and take a serious stance in upkeeping your brand and managing the expectations of your customers, some new, some repeated fliers.

 

So it is how you package "crap". It is all in the presentation. Isn't that what marketing is all about? Spinning and creating spiels to what you want people to think your product is about. But when you start having an immediate opposite response to what you expect, maybe it is time to re-think your strategy. I am sure the feathers in MAS are being ruffled over the reaction of the "snekboks" and they are now busy trying to rectify the situation. Well, at least that is what I hope they are doing...

 

MAS of the past have been proven to be very slow to react to trends in the market and thus, got left behind while the other competitors in the region forged ahead in innovations. Let's puts SQ aside for the moment and look at TG.

 

TG is a government run airline and although their antiquated A300s plying the region is a pain in the ass, the airline on a whole is perceived widely to be a reliable source of travel and is still able to meek out a profit year on year. Complaints about domestic routes bleeding you dry? TG flies domestic... Do you see them going up in arms lamenting about the invasion of LCCs? No... TG has so far taken on challenge after challenge with such gusto it is inspiring to watch. No one was hit harder during the 2004 tsunami but them. And where did the 1997 Asian financial crisis start to fester? Ground zero... THAILAND.

 

Now with IJ at the helm, his main objective of the make profits for MAS which has for the last few years remained basket-cased. Things are still very fluid so let's see how the developments change to bring the airline forward.

 

Cheers

Ryan

[Mushrif A 3]

One key problem with the snackbox is that MH has been labelling itself as a 5-star carrier, and using labels & taglines from Skytrax - both well-associated with luxury and comfort. Once MH creates this hype and tells its customers that it is 5-star yadda yadda, expectations - high ones - are set.

 

With the snackbox, which is an extreme departure to what pax are more accustomed to and what they would envisage a 5-star carrier would offer - such expectations come crashing down. Hence, you get angry & disappointed letters in NSTP, amongst others.

 

Discerning pax expect frills when paying for an alleged 5-star carrier. Otherwise, they would have gone for AK from day 1. It is like SQ advertising the gracefulness, etc of the Singapore Girl, but instead you find those UA-like grandmas onboard serving you when they feel like it.

 

As for me, I am actively avoiding MH whenever I can, even ending up with creative itineraries, and have actively persuaded friends and relatives to switch to other carriers, especially if they are expecting frills after paying for (expected) frills. Thus far, my success rate has been quite good. I would think that the damage to MH's brand equity would outlast IJ tenure at the helm, and I would relegate MH as one of the "has beens" in the annals of the once-upon-a-time-great-full service carriers.

 

 

[Mushrif A 3]

UPDATE!

 

Has MH actually listened to its customers and dumped the snackbox?

 

An acquaintance who flew on MH721 today, KUL-CGK, ETD 13:55 in Y reported that the meal served was NOT the expected yet dreaded snackbox, but the traditional hot meal with the typical settings. Main course was a choice between chicken or fish, there was bread & butter, a mixed salad on the side and a cheesecake for dessert.

 

(btw, in case you're wondering, his MH flight was booked and paid for by someone else. And he had no opportunity to fly others.)

 

So, did MH stop dishing out the snackbox or was it a case of the snackbox yet to be implemented on that route?

 

 

 

[Mohd Azizul Ramli 2]

I think the snackboxes have yet to be introduced in the KUL-CGK-KUL sectors. This sectors are probably a high yield one for MH, 5 daily flights with good loads on Golden Club class each time.

[jani 0]

Are you sure? A relative of mine just flew this route and as soon as she got back she called me "hey, is the KFC near the NKVE 24 hours?"

 

[H Azmal 0]

Don't jinx it, Mushrif! heh heh

Edited March 26, 2008 by H Azmal

[Mushrif A 3]

Are you sure? A relative of mine just flew this route and as soon as she got back she called me "hey, is the KFC near the NKVE 24 hours?"

 

 

 

When was this? The flight that I mentioned where the snackbox failed to make an appearance was yesterday's to CGK, on 9M-MMC.

 

I know a few folks who travelled on MH to CGK last month had to endure the snackbox.

 

One swallow does not make a summer, but who knows? Summer might already be here!

 

[BC Tam 2]

Perhaps snekboks demand yesterday so great they ran out and MAS was forced to serve up the vastly inferior hot meal instead - perhaps they should put up a public apology to the 93% of pax who must have been bitterly dissapointed

Edited March 27, 2008 by BC Tam

[Mushrif A 3]

Perhaps snekboks demand yesterday so great they ran out and MAS was forced to serve up the vastly inferior hot meal instead - perhaps they should put up a public apology to the 93% of pax who must have been bitterly dissapointed

 

Either that, or MH is just being its usual inconsistency-self.

 

But, anybody from ops here that know the real story? Why hot meals in Y on yesterday's CGK flight(s) when snackbox have appeared on that route?

 

[jani 0]

When was this? The flight that I mentioned where the snackbox failed to make an appearance was yesterday's to CGK, on 9M-MMC.

 

I know a few folks who travelled on MH to CGK last month had to endure the snackbox.

 

One swallow does not make a summer, but who knows? Summer might already be here!

 

Yeah, it was last month.

 

Hopefully they have changed.

[Mohd. Helmi 0]

Yeah, it was last month.

 

Hopefully they have changed.

 

You'd expect a change like this would be followed up by a press release. Imagine the horror of someone who was expecting a snekbox and getting a hot meal, Joe public have expectations for MH to meet, the well publicized and much disgusted snekbox is one of them, maybe by this measure, MH would be going beyond expectations?

[Mushrif A 3]

You'd expect a change like this would be followed up by a press release. Imagine the horror of someone who was expecting a snekbox and getting a hot meal, Joe public have expectations for MH to meet, the well publicized and much disgusted snekbox is one of them, maybe by this measure, MH would be going beyond expectations?

 

Reverse psychology.

[HijazKamalHasnan 0]

Perhaps MAS could gain some appeal to this meal box by saying how environmentally friendly it is since the box could be recycled .

[BC Tam 2]

..... by saying how environmentally friendly it is since the box could be recycled .

Even if they do, I sincerely hope news never leak out that the snek-boks are recycled, what more to publicize the fact - euyucks !

[Kenneth T 0]

Even if they do, I sincerely hope news never leak out that the snek-boks are recycled, what more to publicize the fact - euyucks !

 

I wonder they ever do so. Well, i just got back from KUL and i had wrote 2 complaints to them. Now waiting patiently to see what they are going to reply to me.

 

[dsim 0]

similar ploy or improvement? i never been on JAL (though I tried to get on JAL flights a few times but failed due to more competitive pricing by SIA) - so no much to comment on their services...

 

http://www.my.jal.com/cms/contents/en/jal_news_2511.html

[zaki 0]

similar ploy or improvement? i never been on JAL (though I tried to get on JAL flights a few times but failed due to more competitive pricing by SIA) - so no much to comment on their services...

 

http://www.my.jal.com/cms/contents/en/jal_news_2511.html

 

I don't really understand why in some red-eye flights, especially the ones with midnight-ish departures, carriers prefer to serve full meal after take-off and a very small breakfast/pre-arrival snack. IMHO the other way round would have been much preferred by many...

[Izanee 0]

hahaha...BC tam...i prefer the term 'Keyboard Warriors Supreme Council'!

[Tai Wei 0]

I was on flight to Miri from KLIA yesterday, to my surprise there were choices of chicken or tuna sandwich, and in addition to that, rojak salad was added to the mealbox Nevertheless, still a MEALBOX!