Summary:
- United Airlines expands digital meal pre-ordering to United Economy, allowing passengers to select fresh meals via the airline’s website and mobile app ahead of departure.
- The initiative enhances customer choice while improving catering efficiency and supporting food waste reduction, with pre-order becoming the sole option for fresh Economy meals from March 2026.
- Building on strong satisfaction gains in premium cabins, the move reflects United’s data-driven approach to onboard retail, sustainability and streamlined inflight operations.
United Airlines customers can now order fresh United Economy meals like burgers and sandwiches before their flight through the airline’s website and mobile app. This change prioritises giving customers more choice and ensuring they get the meals they want, while also helping the airline’s catering operation run more efficiently and supporting efforts to reduce food waste.
United Economy meal pre-orders are available on flights over 1,190 miles within the U.S., Canada, Mexico and the Caribbean, and starting on 1 March 2026, pre-orders will be the only way to purchase fresh entrees for customers traveling in the Economy cabin. United Economy will still offer its signature snack boxes, packaged snacks and beverages for purchase onboard.
In addition to ensuring customers get the meals they want and improving catering efficiency, enabling customers to pre-order meals is expected to help United’s food-waste reduction efforts by minimising unconsumed fresh retail items. This approach is anticipated to keep more than 100,000 pounds of unused food out of landfills each year.
United expects to add more fresh meal choices to the pre-order menu this summer that include elevated salads, gourmet sandwiches and wraps, with expanded pre-order exclusive premium beverage options planned for later this year.
United first introduced pre-order in the United app for premium cabins in 2021 and saw customer satisfaction scores for domestic flights increase by almost 40%.
“We’re continuing to invest in meaningful improvements to our onboard food and beverage program, with a focus on quality, consistency and customer choice,” said United Managing Director of Hospitality Programs Aaron McMillan. “Pre-ordering is a win for everyone – customers board the plane knowing they’ll get the meal they want, our catering partners know exactly how much food to prepare for each flight and it helps our operation run even more smoothly and reduce food waste.”
Customers can pre-order both fresh Bistro on Board and retail items in advance through the mobile app or website, beginning five days and up to 24 hours before departure. Customers can browse the available options within the online Trips section, and United app users will receive a notification when pre-ordering opens for their flight.
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