Key takeaways:
- Airlines across the world are quietly dismantling the traditional ‘full-service’ economy model by cutting complimentary snacks and drinks on short-haul routes.
- Legacy carriers including British Airways, Lufthansa and Delta are increasingly adopting buy-on-board strategies once associated mainly with budget airlines.
- While airlines frame catering cuts around sustainability and efficiency, many passengers see them as another example of paying more while receiving less.
There was a time when even the shortest flight came with some attempt at hospitality. It might have been a can of cola, a packet of pretzels, a biscuit or a cup of coffee, but airlines still understood the value of the gesture. It told passengers they were being looked after.
That culture is sadly disappearing.
Delta Air Lines has become the latest carrier to scale back complimentary onboard service, announcing that from 19 May it will remove the ‘express service’ – which includes water, coffee, tea and two snack options – from around 450 daily flights under 350 miles, representing around 9% of its 5,500 daily flights. Passengers in first class will continue receiving drinks and snacks regardless of distance but everybody else on those shorter routes is effectively being told to sort themselves out before boarding.
The change comes amid growing cost pressures on the airline industry following instability in the Middle East and rising operational costs, which have pushed airfares and ancillary charges higher across the sector. But Delta insists the move is unrelated to rising jet fuel prices, arguing instead it’s creating “a more consistent experience across our network. Customers traveling in Delta Comfort and Delta Main on flights 350 miles and above will now receive full beverage and snack service, while shorter flights will no longer offer food and beverage service - with the exception of Delta First, which always receives full service.”
The backlash on social media was immediate because Delta has spent years selling itself as a premium airline. Customers pay more to fly Delta than many rivals precisely because the carrier markets itself around comfort, reliability and service. Removing even the smallest complimentary extras undermines that entire pitch.
Henry Harteveldt, president of Atmosphere Research, is another who has questioned whether the move aligns with Delta’s premium image. “Even budget airlines sell food and beverages on their short flights,” he told The New York Times. “Delta likes to claim that it’s a ‘premium’ airline, but cutting out cabin service doesn’t support that.”
Delta isn’t alone in rethinking the value it extends to passengers, especially those in lower classes. Airlines have spent the past decade steadily unbundling the flying experience and today hidden costs come from every direction, including checked luggage, seat selection, priority boarding and in-flight Wi-Fi. On some routes, passengers now pay more simply to avoid sitting in the middle seat.
The low-cost airline model
Across the aviation industry, carriers are quietly dismantling the old idea of ‘full service’ economy travel. The process has happened gradually enough that many passengers barely noticed at first: complimentary meals disappeared on short-haul flights; drink service became more limited; snack baskets shrank. Cabin crews were pushed to complete service faster. Then buy-on-board menus arrived.
That blueprint came from budget airlines. Ireland’s Ryanair and the UK’s easyJet proved years ago that travellers would tolerate stripped-back service if fares stayed low enough. Spirit Airlines – which recently collapsed after struggling with mounting debt and failed merger talks – pushed the model even further in the US, charging separately for almost everything possible.
And while traditional airlines mocked those carriers publicly, they were privately investigating how much money they were making from ancillary sales. Eventually, the legacy airlines adopted many of the same tactics themselves.
British Airways (BA) caused uproar in 2017 when it removed complimentary food and drink from economy flights of less than five hours and replaced them with paid Marks & Spencer products. Customers who once received freebies suddenly found themselves being charged up to £5 for wraps, crisps and bottled water onboard. The partnership between BA and Marks & Spencer later ended in 2020 as the airline overhauled its buy-on-board options again.
The airline framed the changes around quality and choice. “We know our customers expect a great experience with British Airways,” then-CEO Alex Cruz said at the time. “They’ve told us we are experts in flying and service, but when it comes to catering on short-haul flights, they want to choose from a wider range of premium products.”
The move prompted criticism from industry observers who argued airlines were cutting service without passing savings onto consumers. Aviation analyst Alex Macheras questioned whether passengers would see any real financial benefit. “This sandwich is basically nothing on the ticket price, so what will disappear from the price? Nothing,” he told The Guardian.
The Lufthansa Group – which operates Lufthansa, Swiss and Austrian Airlines – followed a similar path a year later through its ‘Onboard Delights’ programme, replacing complimentary catering on many European short-haul routes with paid goodies from brands like Dean & DeLuca and Dallmayr, turning the cabin into something closer to a retail environment. The company said the programme would reduce food waste and save around €0.47 per passenger.
It positioned the shift as modernisation rather than austerity, reflecting a wider pattern emerging across the aviation sector. Few carriers openly present these decisions as service reductions. Instead, they lean on phrases such as ‘enhancing flexibility’, ‘streamlining service’, ‘consistency across the network’ or ‘improving choice’ – carefully calibrated language designed to soften the reality that passengers are often receiving less than before.
Sustainability has also become part of the sales pitch. Airlines increasingly argue that removing compulsory catering helps tackle food waste, reduce single-use plastics and cut aircraft weight, which in turn lowers fuel burn and emissions. IATA has estimated that around 20-25% of inflight food and beverages go untouched, creating huge volumes of waste that often cannot be recycled because international catering waste is subject to strict biosecurity disposal rules in many countries.
Buy-on-board and pre-order systems also allow airlines to load more selectively, reducing unused meals, plastic cups, packaging and bottled drinks. BA, Lufthansa and Air France have all linked catering changes to environmental goals alongside cost savings.
Lufthansa, however, quickly discovered there were limits to how far customers were willing to accept the erosion of onboard hospitality. In 2024, it partially reversed course by reintroducing complimentary tea and coffee on some short-haul routes after customer satisfaction scores declined.
The class divide
What makes the shift more glaring is that airlines are simultaneously pouring money into premium cabins.
Delta continues investing heavily in Delta One lounges, upgraded first-class seating and premium partnerships. Lufthansa has expanded its premium onboard dining concepts, while BA maintains its aggressive focus on business-class upgrades. Emirates, Singapore Airlines and Qatar Airways are still competing fiercely on luxury, treating onboard food and drink as central to the premium experience. Meanwhile, Air France and KLM still offer more complimentary catering than many rivals, although portions have gradually shrunk and buy-on-board trials have appeared on some shorter European routes.
What’s emerging is a two-tier version of modern air travel. At the front of the aircraft, airlines compete on champagne, chef-designed menus, cocktail lists and exclusive lounge access. Further back, the focus shifts towards efficiency, faster turnaround times and finding new ways to monetise basic comforts that were once included in the fare. Even the seat itself is no longer untouchable.
In 2012, Ryanair proposed charging as little as £1 for standing spots by removing rows of seats to create a so-called ‘standing cabin’. CEO Michael O’Leary has floated the idea multiple times over the years, often framing it partly as provocation and publicity, but the concept itself has never fully disappeared. Reports have periodically linked carriers like Wizz Air and Viva Air to interest in Aviointeriors’ ‘Skyrider’ saddle-style seating concept, designed to squeeze more passengers onto short-haul aircraft.
But getting back to snacks, that widening class divide is changing the role food plays onboard.
For decades, airlines acted as global showcases for brands. Travellers associated flying with Biscoff biscuits, Oreos, Pringles, SunChips, Snyder’s pretzels, Cheez-It crackers, Kind bars, Doritos, M&M’s, Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Schweppes tonic water and miniature bottles of Jack Daniel’s because those products were handed out routinely across entire cabins. Airlines bought huge volumes, giving food manufacturers exposure to millions of passengers every year.
Now the economics are shifting away from mass distribution towards onboard retail.
Airlines make far more money selling premium sandwiches, snack boxes, crisps, confectionery, alcohol and coffee individually than they do handing out comps to everyone onboard. In fact, Lufthansa previously told shareholders its onboard retail system had the potential to generate around €8.65 per passenger who decided to purchase from the inflight menu. Buy-on-board systems also generate valuable consumer data around purchasing habits and passenger behaviour.
From a balance-sheet perspective, the strategy makes sense but from the passenger’s seat, it can feel relentlessly transactional. They notice when airlines remove small comforts while continuing to increase fares. They notice when the service trolley no longer appears. They notice when ‘premium’ airlines begin borrowing ideas from budget carriers. Most of all, they notice when the overall experience starts feeling colder.
“Farewell SunChips and water, you saved so many travellers from starvation,” one Reddit user joked after Delta’s recent announcement. Another questioned the airline’s premium image directly: “Didn’t the CEO call Delta a premium airline? Such nonsense.”
The irony is that the free airline snack probably matters far more emotionally than financially. A biscuit or a packet of pretzels costs airlines relatively little in the context of modern aviation economics. But those small gestures helped maintain the illusion that economy passengers were still guests rather than simply revenue streams moving through a tightly managed system.
