Airline Passengers’ Willingness to Reserve Inflight Meals Online and Their Willingness to Pay for Meal Upgrades: The Case Study of U.S. Students

While the cabin waste of an aircraft has been recognized and criticized, there is not enough research that explores its gravity in airlines and ways to reduce its total amount. This research aimed to highlight the importance of promoting online meal reservations for airline passengers as a way to minimize food waste and for airlines to offset the cost of tailoring inflight food options by revealing the inflight meal types and subcategories for which passengers are willing to pay an upgrade fee to support environmental and economic sustainability. A sample of 192 students from higher education in the U.S. completed an online questionnaire survey. Two groups with distinctive preferences for inflight meal upgrades were identified using exploratory factor analysis and cluster analysis. Participants were more likely to reserve inflight meals online when various inflight meal options were provided. They presented a higher willingness to pay more when a variety of foods was provided, with a lower willingness for healthy or religious foods. The highly educated participants in a younger age group and Asian/Pacific Islanders presented a significantly higher willingness to reserve meals online than the rest. The study results highlight the potential benefits of offering an online reservation option for inflight meals to reduce cabin waste and ensure passenger satisfaction.