Note last line. Airlines try going gourmet, but not for free = = = = Wednesday January 8, 6:45 PM EST = By Meredith Grossman Dubner CHICAGO, Jan 8 (Reuters) - Goodbye rubber chicken. Hello roast turkey wit= h fontina and sliced tomato on Italian focaccia bread. Airline passengers on domestic flights within the United States, having w= atched regular meal service and most other perks wane since the Sept. 11 = attacks, may soon get gourmet food on board -- for a price. Northwest Airlines (NWAC) said on Wednesday it would begin a 30-day test = sale of food to coach passengers on Jan. 15. America West (AWA) this week= debuted a three-week trial, selling food to passengers in its main cabin= s. "It's not traditional airline food," Northwest spokesman Kurt Ebenhoch sa= id. In a survey, passengers said they would pay about $7 for a cinnamon streu= sel twist breakfast and about $10 for a turkey club sandwich basket for l= unch and dinner, LSG Sky Chefs spokesman Larry Meltzer said. LSG, the wor= ld's largest in-flight caterer, is working with Northwest to provide food= from Minnesota-based D'Amico & Sons on its flights. = "It really indicates that the passengers want some type of meal service, = and they're willing to pay for it," Meltzer said. "Different airlines may= end up with different models." The tests at Northwest and America West come as bankrupt UAL Corp.'s (UAL= ) United Airlines said this week it was cutting business- and first-class= meal service on most domestic flights outside of traditional meal times.= Food service is one of the perks that most airlines have been forced to c= ut back or eliminate completely as they struggle to trim costs in the fac= e of billions of dollars in losses in the last year. Most major carriers = scrapped meals for coach passengers after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks. FREE FOOD STILL UP THERE, JUST NOT MUCH As a result, caterers have had to develop new strategies. "Not only have they been hit with less flights and less passengers, but f= ar less flights where airlines are offering meals," Ebenhoch said. "So th= ey have quite a bit of excess kitchen, manpower and production capacity a= vailable to them and have been talking to all of the airlines about ways = to increase their business and make some use of those facilities." Northwest still offers free meals in coach class on flights between hub c= ities and the U.S. West Coast. It serves no-charge meals in business and = first class on flights of more than two hours around meal times -- simila= r to most competitors -- and those routes will be excluded from the test.= Ebenhoch declined to say which routes would be part of the test or detail= menu options. Scrapping food service altogether is too extreme an option, experts said.= "Airlines are stepping over the line in cutting the food," said Terry Tri= ppler, airline consultant and president of TerryTrippler.com. Selling food to passengers who want it, however, may be the compromise ai= rlines are seeking. "This is a way to provide a service customers have indicated they would l= ike to have, but not to increase fares," America West spokeswoman Janice = Monahan said. America West's trial -- on up to a dozen flights each day -- offers a sna= ck for $3 or a chicken Kiev dinner for $10. By the end of the test, Ameri= ca West plans sales of full hot and cold meals on 10 of its longest route= s. A spokeswoman for Gate Gourmet International, one of LSG's main rivals, w= ould not detail its own strategy. On long-haul domestic flights, however, passengers can still expect at le= ast a snack. Most major carriers serve food to coach passengers on flight= s of more than four hours, while business- and first-class passengers usu= ally get fed on flights of more than two hours. Continental Airlines (CAL) remains a holdout, though, serving coach passe= ngers meals on flights of more than two hours, a spokeswoman said. = =A92002 Reuters Limited. = Roger EWROPS