Updated at 5:45 p.m.
CLEVELAND, Ohio — The days of free food on airplanes will end this fall.
Continental Airlines, the biggest carrier in Cleveland and the last to provide free meals, will start charging.
No more free breakfasts and sandwiches, hot meals and desserts for economy-class fliers.
Continental will still have free food in coach on international flights, as well as domestic flights longer than six hours, such as Newark to San Francisco or Los Angeles, and Houston to Anchorage, Alaska. But those exceptions don't apply to most leisure and other economy class travelers flying out of Cleveland Hopkins International Airport.
Continental said travelers no longer pick an airline based on the freebies. Moreover, Continental expects $35 million in annual savings and additional revenue from the food-for-purchase program.
Details of the new coach menus are still being worked out, as are prices. The airline promises a variety of "high quality, healthy food choices" for purchase.
Continental will still serve free meals in the front of the cabin on routes worldwide. It will unveil new first-class sandwiches such as chicken parmesan Tuscan and updated pasta dishes such as spinach and cheese cannelloni on April 1.
Air travelers have seen a steady unbundling of services they used to get for free, from checked bags to pillows and blankets on board. Other major U.S. carriers, including Delta Air Lines, American Airlines, US Airways and United Airlines, already charge for food in the coach cabin. Other airlines have small free snacks but no meals.
Continental for years has tweaked the competition in ads that touted its singular perk of complimentary dining. The passing of a last vestige coach-class pampering was mourned Monday even by consumers who understood its rationale.
"Continental rose above their competitors by not nickel-and-diming their customers, but they seem to be full-speed-ahead in diluting their unique brand and looking like the rest of the airlines in shaking down their fliers for every penny," Ken Trump, a frequent flyer on Continental since 1992, said an e-mail..
Analysts expected the change. William Swelbar, research engineer at MIT International Center for Air Transportation, said Continental had no incentive to keep offering free food if it didn't do much to snag business.
Jay Sorensen, president of the airline marketing firm IdeaWorksCo., said all coach food service worldwide will eventually be for-sale only. Continental probably will offer pre-flight food ordering, and that should result in higher quality food service, he predicted.
Continental said the new food fees will apply to most domestic and Canadian routes and Latin American routes to beach and other leisure destinations. It will still provide free food in coach class to business destinations in Latin America such as Lima, Peru; Caracas, Venezuela; and Mexico City.
Currently, Continental flights lasting less than two hours have free pop or juice and a bag of pretzels or biscuit cookies. Flights of two to 31/2 hours have a small sandwich roll or a muffin in the morning. Flights over 31/2 hours have a free hot sandwich or other hot meal, or breakfast in the morning.
Passengers will continue to get the free small snack and beverages on the shortest flights, but all other food will cost.
Continental produces its own on-board meals at catering kitchens in Cleveland and four other cities run by its Chelsea division. Its commissary at Hopkins employs about 160 people who produce more than 4,000 meals a day.
A spokeswoman said the airline doesn't expect any significant changes in staffing because of the new food policy. Any reductions will be the result of "normal attrition," she said.
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