Alaska Airlines Test-Flies Meals for Purchase on Flights to Mexico

Alaska Airlines announced today that it will begin offering meals for purchase on many of its Mexico flights beginning Jan. 9, 2005.

Debuting on non-stop flights from Seattle and California to Los Cabos, Mazatlan, Puerto Vallarta, Manzanillo, Loreto and Ixtapa/Zihuatanejo, Mexico, the new program will give passengers who previously were offered snack and beverage service the opportunity to buy a freshly-made meal for their flight.

"The new service is all about giving customers a choice," said Tom Romary, vice president of marketing at Alaska Airlines. "Getting through customs and making connections equates to a very long travel day, and having the option to buy a meal during the flight makes sense."

Romary noted that the carrier’s initial testing of the buy-on-board meal service has been encouraging, with up to 50 percent of customers opting to purchase a meal. The meals are all high quality, fresh and hearty, consistent with Alaska’s renowned inflight service offerings. Meals will be priced at $5 cash and can be purchased directly from Alaska’s flight attendants.

The meal service, branded "LSG Sky Chefs’ In-flight Cafe," is offered in conjunction with the airline’s caterer. It is exclusively for Alaska Airlines’ main cabin passengers traveling to and from Mexico in the markets mentioned above, and will not impact first-class service or other markets.

Alaska and its sister carrier, Horizon Air, together serve more than 80 cities in Alaska, the Lower 48, Canada and Mexico. For reservations visit www.alaskaair.com. For more news and information, visit the Alaska Airlines Newsroom on the Internet at http://newsroom.alaskaair.com/.

SOURCE: Alaska Airlines