BUY ON BOARD
Buy on Board was the subject of a lively debate at the IFSA conference at Long Beach in September. OBH spoke to some panellists about the merits of BOB, and the pros and cons of pre-ordering
U
S airlines have generally stopped serving hot meals on domestic flights, and now sell passengers snacks instead. However, according to a new poll by
Airfarewatchdog.com, many travellers would pay for a hot meal.
Out of 1,221 people polled, 53% said they would buy a hot meal. According to the poll, 29% said they’d pay $5, 19% said they’d pay $10, 5% said they’d pay $15, and 3% would pay $20.
Accordingly, some airlines are starting to sell ‘premium’ meals in Economy. US Airways, for instance, last year introduced a premium meal for US$19.99 on international flights. There are four options: Asian beef with noodles; Asian chicken with noodles; assorted charcuterie and vegetarian orzo with portobello mushrooms. All meals are served chilled and come with a choice of Chilean wine.
We asked Rob Gallagher, manager catering and onboard service Virgin America, one of the panelists in the recent IFSA debate, about the potential of BOB:
OBH: Catering is never going to be a revenue earner. The passenger experience is what counts and this comes under the
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www.onboardhospitality.com In debate Rob Gallagher
manager catering and onboard service, Virgin America
Todd-Traynor Corey United’s director of retail programmes
Bill Abraham
vice president of sales operations, eGate Solutions
OBH: What are the advantages to an airline of providing a Buy-On-Board service? RG: By offering a for-sale menu, we can provide guests with the food and drinks they tell us they want and will pay for.
OBH: What are the financial opportunities of providing BOB? RG: Providing great food and drinks as a part of an equally great travel experience ensures return business and a stable bottom line.
‘profitability’ banner. Do you agree? RG: Yes, and no. Our focus at Virgin America is really on offering the best service to our guests, as an amenity that contributes to the overall experience. That said, our Red touch-screen ordering platform does allow us more leeway in offering products onboard and driving ancillary revenue. For example, we launched an ‘open tab’ feature on our Red platform a few years back - so that guests swipe their credit card once and can keep their tab open for the life of the flight for movies, cocktails, meals, etc. We saw an increase on onboard sales from that.
OBH: What are the challenges of providing BOB on a flight? RG: Airline catering itself is a challenge, but I think everyone in the industry agrees it would be great to have better inventory controls.
OBH: Do pre-ordered meals help or hinder the process? How do they affect revenue? RG: Virgin America does not offer pre-ordered meals. We’d rather not offer a service we can’t deliver 100% of the time - and in addition, our guests enjoy being able to browse our food- on-demand menu via the Red seatback and be able to order at their leisure throughout a flight. You might want vegetarian when you
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