Airlines made billions of dollars in bag fees this year and many are hungry to end complimentary meal service as their next target.
That's part of the crystal ball from an Amadeus and IdeaWorks report, 2010 Amadeus Guide to Ancillary Revenue.
"Food is the next frontier," the report states, adding that "carriers are contemplating the eventual demise of complimentary meal service in economy cabins."
Continental recently began charging for meals in coach, following the lead of many other major U.S. carriers.
And, the trend is going global.
Meanwhile, many carriers are beginning to experiment with pre-ordering meals as a step toward eliminating complimentary meal service altogether, the report states.
The report notes that beginning in the summer of 2010 United Airlines began offering passengers on San Francisco-JFK and Los Angeles-JFK routes, as well as San Franciso to Frankfurt and London itineraries the option of pre-ordering premium meals.
United has several ways of promoting these premium meals.
Travelers booked on the transcontinental service get emailed an itinerary and can pre-order a meal by using a "Reserve your meal now" tab, the report says.
They can pre-order online, but must pay by credit card onboard the plane.
And, United passengers booking the San Francisco to Frankfurt and London service view a "reserve your meal now" display within the booking path.
In addition to United, All Nippon Airways and KLM are experimenting with meal upgrades for economy class passengers on long-haul flights, the report says.
And, low cost carriers, including AirAsia, Air Asia X, Air Arabia, airBaltic, Air Berlin, Jetstar and NIKI are leaders in meal pre-ordering, the reports states.
"Experimenting with pre-order meals provides opportunity to fine-tune the process and test price points before implementing changes on a grander scale," according to the report.
And grand-scale changes are in order -- or should we say -- pre-order.