Craving coffee or a Biscoff cookie at 35,000 feet? If you’re on a short Delta Air Lines flight, you might soon be out of luck.
As of May 19, the airline is ending its free snack and beverage service in the economy cabin on flights of less than 350 miles.
About 9 percent of Delta’s up-to-5,500 daily flights will not have service, according to an airline spokesperson. This could affect routes like Los Angeles to San Francisco, which is just under 340 miles. The airline already does not provide beverages or snacks aboard flights of less than 250 miles, a group that includes many short hops between cities in the Northeast.
The change is intended to “create a more consistent experience across our network,” the Delta spokesperson said, adding, “Even on the small number of flights without beverage service, our crew will continue to be visible, available and focused on caring for our customers, like they do on every flight.”
The airline will add full beverage and snack service for the Delta Comfort and Delta Main cabins on flights of 350 or miles. The airline said this meant a larger total number of flights would ultimately have beverage and snack service.
Delta’s decision to discontinue snacks and drinks on brief flights sets it apart from other major domestic carriers. American Airlines offers complimentary snacks and nonalcoholic drinks to all travelers on flights over 250 miles, while United Airlines provides free nonalcoholic drinks on all flights and complimentary snacks on flights over 300 miles. Southwest Airlines has free nonalcoholic drinks and snacks on select flights over 251 miles.
“Even budget airlines sell food and beverages on their short flights,” said Henry Harteveldt, a travel industry analyst for Atmosphere Research. “Delta likes to claim that it’s a ‘premium’ airline, but cutting out cabin service doesn’t support that.”
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Christine Chung is a Times reporter covering airlines and consumer travel.
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