What do you think about the Box Meal?
October 20th, 2007 | by Dusk |
How do you like the new MAS’ Box Meal?
- Excellent (66%)
- I want the old service back! (17%)
- I dont mind (13%)
- Bad (5%)
Total Votes: 329
Loading …Im sure most of you had been reading the news about Malaysia Airlines’ box meal. The information about the meal boxes can be found here, from the previous post.. U can expect to find an apple, a plastic fork, spoon, and knife, mineral water,chocolate/oat snack, some sandwiches, and maybe a slice of cake or some salad.
Below is a picture of the box incase u have no idea what it looks like.
For a better picture Click Here and read his review on the box meal too. MAS to introduce meal boxes for regional short-haul flights
What people say:
Observers find MAS meal box hard to swallow
By Anna Maria Samsudin (NST)October 17 2007
NATIONAL carrier Malaysia Airlines (MAS) stands to lose out in the regional air travel market, following the introduction of meal boxes for economy class passengers on its regional short-haul flights.
Market observers said the move has, in a way, lowered the airline’s prestige as a full-service carrier (FSC) and may result in passengers, especially those expecting frills, switching to budget airlines.
Holiday Tours and Travel Sdn Bhd general manager Danny Jee said looking at the robust growth of low-cost carriers (LCCs) in the region, it is becoming more crucial for FSCs to stick to its business model.
Instead of trying to compete with budget airlines in terms of airfares, FSCs should focus on how to further “pamper” its passengers in an effort to make a clear distinction between the services they offer and that of the LCCs, he said.
“Not everyone is willing to fly on a budget airline. There is still a sizeable market that prefers to fly with FSCs, simply because of the five-star service as well as the pampering factor they offer.
“Thus, FSCs such as MAS need to continue to offer the frills that passengers are used to in order to effectively compete with the LCCs,” Jee told Business Times.
“There are passengers who do not mind paying extra. However, those who paid premium would like to see and feel what they are paying more for,” he added.
On October 1, MAS introduced meal boxes for its Indochina flights between Kuala Lumpur and Ho Chi Minh City, Phnom Penh, Yangon and Bangkok and flights between Kuala Lumpur and Kuching, Miri and Kota Kinabalu.
The meal boxes will be offered on the remaining regional sectors by January 2008.
Singapore-based Standard & Poor’s Equity Research aviation analyst Shukor Yusof said MAS’ decision to switch to meal boxes from the conventional tray set meals was mainly to help trim down its cost and simplify operations.
Many FSCs in the US and Europe have adopted this form of inflight meals for their short-haul routes and MAS is simply following suit.
Shukor said the switch could help MAS save quite a substantial amount of money.
Because meal boxes are much lighter and do not require onboard heating, it would also contribute towards weight reduction, enabling the airline to cut its fuel cost since lighter planes burn less fuel.
“In addition, it will also make things simpler for the cabin crew as it will make the cleaning process easier and faster. This in turn would help improve their turnaround time,” said Shukor.
However, Shukor concurs that there is a high likelihood of passengers not liking the new concept.
“At the end of the day, passengers still prefer a hot meal. I hope that this meal box concept will stay with the economy class segment and will not be introduced on its business and first class as well as its long-haul flights,” he added.
Think Again on Meal Boxes
By William Dennis
AS a frequent traveller, I think Malaysia Airlines’ decision to serve meal boxes in economy class on flights to Bangkok, Ho Chi Minh City, Yangon, Phnom Pehn, Miri, Kuching and Kota Kinabalu effective Oct 1 has definitely affected its image as a full-service carrier (FSC).
I think that the quantity and quality of food on MAS’ regional flights had dropped significantly over the past year. With the introduction of the meal boxes, the airline is taking another step backwards in its inflight product offering.
Meal boxes were served on MH 686/687 on the Fokker 27 (F27) night flights on the Kuching-Singapore-KL sector in the mid-1970s. Serving the same in this present day of air travel on regional flights, especially on the international sectors, is like taking the airline’s product offering backwards 30 years.
A good number of FSCs in Europe have resorted to serving meal boxes on short-haul routes. But the same can’t be adopted in Asia, which is a different market altogether. It is here in Asia where the best airlines in the world are and looking constantly to enhance their product offering for a firm grip on market position.
It is clear that MAS’ move to replace the hot meals with meal boxes is to reduce the weight of the aircraft hence the fuel burn- off on these flights. This reduces its operating cost. But it should not be at the expense of its inflight service.
MAS should be making an effort to enhance its inflight product offering and compete with low-cost carriers and Thai Airways International, its main competitor on the Indo-China routes.
With air travel getting more competitive among FSCs and with low- cost airlines eating into the former’s market share on regional flights, MAS should reconsider its inflight move.
MAS had closed its first-class lounge at Changi Airport but early this year, it reopened it probably after realising that it had lost market share to Singapore Airlines.
With MAS operating regional routes with an aging fleet of B737- 400s with cramped seats in economy class and business class, it puts itself at a further disadvantage. Thai Airways operates the Kuala Lumpur-Bangkok route either with the B777-200, the Airbus A330-300 or the A300-600R while AirAsia operates with the brand-new Airbus A320-200 aircraft.
It would not come as a surprise if MAS loses market share on regional routes.
A few months ago, MAS said that it aimed to be a five-star airline with low cost. You can never be a five-star carrier with low cost. It is a fact and that is the reality of the airline industry.
WILLIAM DENNIS
Subang Jaya
Post a comment below to let us know what you think.
12 Responses to “What do you think about the Box Meal?”
By Sean Lee on Oct 20, 2007 | Reply
Another stupid move from the national carrier. Cutting cost at the expense of passengers’ comfort whilst increasing the fare. At the rate they are going, they will be in the red in no time. It is a no brainer or rocket science type business decision, MAS should aviod such low quality product offerings. It is true what William Dennis said, “You can never be 5 Star carrier with Low Cost” . A higher degree of quality standards must be retained to achieve the 5 star ratings. In the long run, MAS is killilng its own brand.
Whilst it is true they are making money, things will start to go down south when the open sky policy takes into effect. They will feel the heat when new as well as established carriers introduced better aircraft, innovative product offerings at a lower cost fare. Passengers will be spoilt for choice and MAS will not be one of the preferred carrier.
Typical of MAS, thinking of only short term solutions without ever giving a hoot about long term profit and growth sustainability. Then the tax payer will come to the rescue again……
By issac liew on Oct 20, 2007 | Reply
i think mas move in cutting cost is good. if u observe the economic class market closely, ppl dun mind the service they provide on board, the most important thing is tat they can get to their destination CHEAP n fast, n begin their visit. tat is y so many ppl choosing air asia eventhough it service r bad, because they want to save cost on transport n they rather spend more on what they r going to enjoy during the trip.
so many friends on mine not choosing mas flight bcoz of the price tag on it. take my brother case tat r flying to adelaide, he dun mind spending time in singapore terminal n choose the singapore airlines bcoz singapore airlines fare is CHEAPER than mas.my friend tat fly to korea, say she book korean airlines becoz korean airlines fare is CHEAPER than mas.another case is my relative tat fly to london, choose THAI airways becoz their fare is CHEAPER than mas.n so many cases that ppl not taking MAS juz bcoz of the price tag.
so if u think in terms of market, this move will cut the cost, n eventually more ppl will choose mas.
for those that oppose to it, y dun u juz upgrade to business class, if u place the inflight service so important. n for ur information, nt all ppl like the inflight meal becoz the taste is nt that nice also.so y dun save some money on this. at the end of the day the money it cost is the most important thing, mas lose to airsia not becoz of anything, is juz in terms of MONEY that they charge.
By Jenny on Oct 20, 2007 | Reply
Isaac Liew is day-dreaming if he expects any cost reductions from the snack box implementation to translate into cheaper fares.
The current MAS management’s remuneration package is performance oriented and is linked to how big the bottom-line is.
I doubt they care much for the damage to the brand by downgrading the service to snack boxes. Discerning passengers will switch carriers to the likes of SIA or Thai Airways for regional flights - getting newer planes, better service in economy - at very competitive or cheaper farees than MAS’.
As for cheaper fares on other carriers, that is done to compensate for the supposedly inconvenience of not being able to fly direct, although Changi airport has to be the most painless airport to transit through. This predatory pricing is also evident in the S’pore market where it is cheaper for residents that to fly on MAS (via KLIA) than fly non-stop on SIA.
By Jess Hoh on Oct 30, 2007 | Reply
As i know abt MAS’s operational costs are higher than that of the industry’s and its competitors, each department did not operate according to expectation.
Therefore, they hv to find a strategy to reduce their cost INCLUDING introducing meal boxes for regional short-haul flights.
firstly, MAS, as a five star airline will damage its own image with idea of cutting cost as ppl normally will expect tat MAS wil provide the best service as they pay for it. before that, what does mean by MAS as short-haul flights? is it KL to Kuantan (40 mins) or KL to Bangkok (two hours)?
For example, in KL to Kuantan case, i will agree with isaac tat ppl will want to get into their destination as soon as possible regardless of the level of service MAS provided. Maybe it’s a good stategies for MAS to go ahead with it in order to cut costs.
in KL to Bangkok, however, it’s a different case, it brings confusion to passengers that whether they are being provided for 5-star airline services? MAS’s competitors such as Thai Airways are providing full hot meal on the trip of Bangkok to KL. Passengers will feel that they are not being treated as important and not worthy if they being provided meal boxes..
MAS got its own reasons before it made tis type of decision. Anyway, i think MAS needs to rethink its own stategies, cutting cost on in-flight services and passenger facilities is not the way forward. Maybe MAS can think abt cutting cost on out-flight service with addtional customer benefits.
By Dusk on Oct 31, 2007 | Reply
If im not mistaken, this meal box is on its trial period. So they might not stick to it.
By UNKNOWN on Nov 2, 2007 | Reply
anyway the plastic cover is manufactured by my company
By azlee on Nov 28, 2007 | Reply
MAS is always ‘beyond expectation’ isnt it. regional flight means max 3 hrs flt is i m nt mistaken, and i can tell that 70 to 90% of pax are looking for a full meal course during flt. because they were already in airport 2 hrs b4 flt, where most dont eat anything yet. and after flight, they rush straight for taxi/bus, so tell me when’s their only time to eat?
i flew on MH KUL-BKK-KUL, we got 3 pieces of cold small sandwich+cadbury choc+ water + apple. how can this be fulfilling.
as for the price war, there are many ppl out there, many of them willing to pay bit xtra for a better service, because lots of medium/long haul travellers are service oriented people. i.e they see and they ask for what they want and they complain when they didnt get what they deserve.
Fare pricing is totally out of question when it comes to godd service. wake up MAS!
By Killer tomatoes.. on Dec 5, 2007 | Reply
Seriously I don’t really mind but then again I never really cared for airline food. However just
one thing, the contents in the box can certainly be upgraded to something much better than cadbury bites, cold sandwiches and an apple..I am sure MAS catering can think of something different and better to put in the box!! At least then the image
of the airline doesn’t have to suffer especially when it comes to the service.
By Dusk on Dec 6, 2007 | Reply
After talking to some passangers, cabin crew, and people who is in the box meal thing, there is a trend.
Our Malaysians are the one complaining about the box meal but foreigners liked it.
I have also seen some letters complimenting the box meal. I guess Malaysians need rice for lunch (maybe breakfast and dinner too).
By shahalamder on Jan 16, 2008 | Reply
Well MAS,say bye-bye to joining skyteam(or any alliance for all i knw)!they dont need a 5 star LCC in their alliance.
Its true!Aer Lingus was recently been kicked out from the oneworld alliance because of their lousy,LCC like service and the lack of business class cabin on board all their european flights. Aer Lingus is a FCC,just like MAS.
I hope MAS will not be the Aer Lingus of Asia.
By Rohit on Mar 31, 2008 | Reply
Recently flew KL-Jogjakarta-KL which first encountered me to this meal box. To be perfectly honest, I actually liked what I had. Unlike the sandwich that most people mentioned, I had a bun with chicken curry filling, plus a small nan wrapped around some chunks of tandoori chicken. The other items in the box were an apple, a mineral water, a pack of Cadbury choc bites and a pair of plastic fork and knife and a napkin. I am not big into airline food myself. But I took note of the meal box for it being new. Honesly, I liked what I had. If anything at all, wished the portion was larger. I have to agree with Dusk. This meal box is not a MAS thing but really the way ahead for airlines around the world. In this region, Malaysia Airlines is probably an early adopter hence paving the way for others to follow.
By Dusk on Apr 2, 2008 | Reply
Thanks for the feedback Rohit. I have forwarded ur post to one of the management pilot of MAS. Haha.