Starting in 2003, many United States air carriers began eliminating free meal services in economy classes on North American flights and replacing them with buy on board services.Alexander, Keith L. "Passengers find buy-on-board food hard to digest - Airlines are starting to feed fliers again." San Francisco Chronicle. Sunday March 27, 2005."Buy On-Board Meals?." The Early Show/CBS News. July 7, 2003. In the 2000s US Airways (now part of American Airlines) briefly charged for soft drinks but then reversed course. By 2009, many US carriers had established buy on board as part of an à la carte pricing movement.Stellin, Susan. "Pros and cons of a la carte airfare pricing." CNN. Thursday February 19, 2009. Retrieved on February 19, 2009. Around that year, US carriers began using celebrity-named and brand name products to make their buy on board products generate more revenue."Pie in the Sky? Upgrading Food in Coach." The Wall Street Journal. September 3, 2003. Retrieved on September 5, 2009. Continental Airlines, the last large United States carrier to offer free meals on all domestic flights,Bennett, Andrea. " The lowdown on airline food." Travel+Leisure at CNN. Tuesday September 29, 2009. Retrieved on March 15, 2010. announced in March 2010 that it would begin a buy on board program in fall 2010 and end many of its free meal programs on domestic flights.Hunter, Marnie. "Continental cuts back on free food." CNN. March 15, 2010. Retrieved on March 15, 2010. Jeff Green of Businessweek described the end of Continental's program as an "end of an era."Green, Jeff. "Continental Ends Airline Era as Free Coach Meals Cut (Update3)." Businessweek. March 15, 2010. Retrieved on March 16, 2010.
