YES, WE HAVE NO PRETZELS

[Pinner]

breaking news from the New York Times

NEW YORK -- Looking to trim more costs, US Airways said it would eliminate bags of free pretzels on its flights starting in September, after a similar move by Northwest Airlines last month.

[cj001f]

So now Southwest give me better service, in addition to being on time and cheaper? Great move USAir!

[DJSapp]

Wow, so they're saving $0.25 per passenger, a total of $37.50 for a flight with 150 passengers. That's really gonna save the company. How many million is their CEO making?

[Pinner]

In 1985 American Airlines (I think it was American) saved $40,000 by removing one olive from each salad served in first class.

[DJSapp]

methinks the pretzels are not the problem

US Airways, Inc. is the main operating arm of US Airways Group. With almost 276 aircraft, US Airways, Inc. operates more than 3,500 flights daily, carrying an average of more than 120,000 passengers.

That is, @ $0.25 per person a $30,000 per day savings. HOWEVER, 120,000 passengers on 3,500 flights per day = 34.3 people per flight, about 23% of their actual flight capacity (based on 150 people onboard a plane). Perhaps the problem is not enough customers.

edit: Their math is a little fuzzy to boot: 276 planes flying 3500 flights a day = 12.7 flights per day per plane. Something isn't right here...