Air caterers hunger for meals

Getting a free meal at 30,000 feet, in coach class, at least, is going the way of the biplane.

And that's causing turbulence in the airline catering business.

Spending on food by major U.S. airlines has dropped nearly 30 percent since the end of 1999, forcing catering companies such as Gate Gourmet International and LSG Sky Chefs to slash operations and cut thousands of jobs to survive the drop in demand for their services.

"You could just see the air going out of the balloon," said John Whisnant, Gate Gourmet's senior vice president of marketing and business development. "I don't think we see the hot meal coming back in coach."

Even with the cutbacks, carriers are "still putting tremendous pressure on us to lower our costs," said Travis Tanner, LSG Sky Chefs' chief operating officer for the Americas.

Blame it on the airline industry's four-year financial crisis that landed three major carriers--United, Delta and Northwest--in bankruptcy court. Saddled with huge losses and desperate to reduce spending, the airlines have eliminated the Salisbury steaks, lasagna and fish fillets that coach passengers on domestic flights once took for granted, and comedians routinely mined for punch lines.

Except in first class and on long international flights, where meal service remains the rule, airborne dining has been reduced to snack boxes, sandwich wraps and salads costing $3 to $5, and then only if the flight is at least two or three hours long. If not, it's just peanuts and pretzels

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