United Airlines has enabled the advance purchase of meals for passengers in the economy cabin.
The move is an intermediate step toward requiring economy flyers on domestic and short-haul international flights to purchase meals in advance beginning March 1. United already sells meals for economy flyers on routes of at least 1,190 miles within the U.S. and to and from Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean.
Advance orders can be made on the United app and on United.com beginning five days before a flight and ending 24 hours before departure.
The airline said transitioning to advance-only orders will help its catering contractors manage inventory, ensuring that flyers get the meals they want while minimizing waste.
“This approach is anticipated to keep more than 100,000 pounds of unused food out of landfills each year,” the airline said.
Examples of meals United has available for purchase include a double bacon egg sandwich, a cheeseburger, tacos al pastor and a hummus platter. Menus vary depending upon time of day and whether the destination is domestic mainland, Hawaii, Canada or Latin American/Caribbean.
The airline said it expects to add more meal options for pre-order this summer, included salads, sandwiches and wraps.
United introduced advance-purchase meals in the United app for premium cabins in 2021. The airlines says the move led to an increase in customer satisfaction scores for domestic flights by almost 40%.
After March 1, United will continue to offer snack boxes, standalone packaged snacks and alcoholic beverages for purchase by economy flyers onboard, as well as its standard free snack and nonalcoholic beverage.