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Air Canada revamps options in buy on board Passengers on Air Canada can now choose from one item from each of three categories to create a combination meal in the carrier’s new buy-on-board program. Categories for the meals include: All Day Pantry, All Day Fresh and Bar Beverage. Air Canada is working with several companies as well as its main caterer, Cara Operations, Ltd. on the new service. Among the offerings are General Tao chicken from the Canadian company, President’s Choice, Subway brand sandwiches and products from Cara’s subsidiary restaurants, such as Kelsey’s. “People are looking for things they recognize,” says Rob Ramage, senior director, in-flight products at Air Canada who compared the offering to what is found in an upscale shopping mall food court. No single item on the menu is above C$5 (US$4.40) and a combination is C$10 (US$8.80). Ramage said the carrier dealt with passenger dissatisfaction at the beginning of its buy-on-board program. “You’d see the spike in complaints and then you would see it drop away quickly because people understood the value they were getting with the lower priced tickets that Air Canada is offering now. They see the value of the meal that they are getting versus what they got before,” says Ramage. The C$2 (US$1.70) pillow plus blanket followed a similar path. The pillow and blanket combination is not a major seller, says Ramage and was done in response to increased costs for products that often went unused. “They got pulled down put on a seat and people would sit on them then throw them on the floor and they would go right back into our laundry cycle again. So, for the environment and for costs of both of those situations were resolved by selling the items,” says Ramage
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