JetBlue is introducing new menus for transatlantic flights that come with a surprise: there will be no hot meals for economy class passengers.

On almost all airlines, even passengers in the budget seats could expect at least one hot meal on an overseas trip, albeit with sometimes questionable taste. Now the JetBlue economy menus have the cool disclaimer: “All food is served chilled.”

Chilled frittatas?

A roasted zucchini and tomato frittata sounds delicious for breakfast, but do you really want one? cold Frittata? A lunch/dinner menu offers a choice of Chicken Grain Bowl (cold) or Ginger Garlic Tofu (cold). At another, flyers can choose between pesto pasta salad (cold) and mushrooms and lentils (cold). Sounds delicious, right?

Is Jet Blue bucking the trend towards better CX?

Based on the actions of various airlines, I predicted that customer experience could be the key factor airlines use to gain a competitive advantage. United Airlines, for example, just announced that it will upgrade the Wi-Fi on all of its planes to Starlink service and offer it free to all customers. In a recent interview, Mario Matulich, President of the Customer Management Practice, called CX an “interesting field of competition.”

A smelly alternative?

While no one expects gourmet meals in economy class, Flyer Do expect food on a flight that lasts eight or nine hours. Some of JetBlue’s refrigerated foods seem genuinely inedible, and I expect some passengers will feel the need to bring their own food on board.

Passengers bringing groceries onto airplanes creates customer experience issues that go beyond the mere inconvenience of purchasing and carrying potentially messy bags or boxes. A survey of 3,000 travelers found that their third biggest pet peeve was other passengers bringing smelly food onto planes. That’s bad enough on a short flight, but it would be even worse on flights that could last over ten hours.

For an airline that once prided itself on service, JetBlue’s cold food seems out of step with its tradition and the industry as a whole.

Low prices can trump service

For many flyers, the ticket price is the most important variable. The survival of low-cost airlines that provide objectively poor service proves this to be true. If JetBlue’s prices for the Atlantic crossing in economy class are low enough, there will no doubt be many passengers complaining about the food but choosing JetBlue anyway.