If we ran airlines, we'd serve passengers saltines and install a water hose to drink from, and then funnel the saved money into, oh, reducing flight delays. However, the airlines obviously care more about your well-being than we do, because they're all competing to see who can offer the most chef-tastic on-flight meals these days. It also probably helps that in lots of cases, they're charging for these meals for a bit of extra profit. Here's a quick run-down of what some of the major airlines now offer.

American Airlines
Snacks, $2-4
For 3+ hour flights (U.S., Mexico, and Carribbean only): Sandwiches, $5

Continental
Complimentary meals prepared by their in-house division

Delta
Cobb salad sandwich, shrimp salad, black olive spaghetti salad, all by chef Todd English, $7-10

JetBlue
Snacks (cashews, biscotti, "muchies mix"), Terra Blues potato chips, Dunkin' Donuts coffee

Our personal favorite in-flight meal options are with Singapore Air—they pass out free wine, Snickers ice cream bars, orange juice, and little purple footies with textured no-slip bottoms.

The full article has more airlines and also includes first-class meal options.

"Will Fly For Food" [Business Week]
(Photo: mlinksva)