hands off my nuts!

by Paige Cram

Published: May 31, 2008

Ladies and gentlemen, hold on to your nuts.

Why, you ask? Because US Airways just announced that, beginning June 1, the airline will no longer be providing complimentary snacks like peanuts and pretzels to travelers… at least not to those traveling in coach.

With the economy the way it is, individuals and businesses alike have been looking for ways to cut back on costs. Some consumers are buying more generic items or trading in their gas-guzzlers for more fuel-efficient cars; and restaurants are serving smaller portions or upping their prices to account for rising food costs. But the airlines have been the biggest culprit, dropping bombshell after bombshell about new prices, cuts and surcharges.

Jets are flying slower; flights are being canceled and fares continue to rise. CNN reported that since January, eleven domestic fare hikes have been accepted, and we haven’t even reached the peak travel season yet. In all of 2007, consumers saw seventeen of these agreed upon fare hikes. At the current rate, there will be forty in 2008.

Oh and don’t forget that now you’re also paying to check your baggage and to have “preferred” seating. I remember when, “Window or aisle?” wasn’t a question of economic status. But these days the middle class will be left with the middle seat because they’re already too strapped for cash to pay the surcharge.

But, apparently, none of that is enough. Now, in a move that can only be seen as a slap to the collective face of American consumers, they’re taking away the one thing we had left to look forward to on these longer, more crowded, more expensive flights: our salty snacks. To them it’s a measly 3-ounce bag of peanuts or pretzels, but to us, it’s a fundamental part of travel culture. It’s the thing we thought we could count on to always remain the same in this time of economic uncertainty.

We understand that ticket prices must rise with the cost of oil; we understand at $130 a barrel, sacrifices must be made. We can live with being crowded and cramped, and we can learn to travel lighter and carry on our luggage. But when you take away our nuts, you take away our dignity. And that is something for which the American public should not, and will not, stand. In a free society, free snacks are a luxury we can not afford to give up.

Otherwise, where does it end? Flights that are standing room only? People riding in the luggage cabin like dogs if they can’t afford to fly any other way? When you start treating us like cargo instead of customers, it’s bad for business. Cutting costs isn’t the only important part of maintaining your profit margin. You also have to keep your consumers happy. So do us a favor and toss us some of those artificially-flavored pretzel nubs. Let us keep our salty treats so that we can pretend, even if only for a moment while happily crunching on them, that things are just like they were in the good old days.

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