Flight Crew Air Transport Pilot (ATP); Flight Crew Instrument; Flight Crew Multiengine
Flight Crew Last 90 Days 544
Communication Breakdown; Confusion; Other / Unknown
Deviation / Discrepancy - Procedural Published Material / Policy
General None Reported / Taken
Environment - Non Weather Related; Company Policy; Human Factors
Due to the world pandemic; national health emergency; and concept of social distancing; I decided for the safety of our passengers and flight attendants not to do a cabin service during our flight. I had the same flight attendants the day before and we discussed how we could best; and safely; manage our long flight to ZZZ1. As I approached the ZZZ Operations Agent; I presented the idea to him and asked him if he was comfortable making an announcement to the passengers to encourage the purchase of drinks or snacks as needed for the long flight. He seemed to understand and was willing to make an announcement.Once down the jetway; I was approached by two ZZZ station managers who expressed concerns with it not being company policy and that it might panic our passengers. I assured them that I understood and if they were not comfortable making the announcement; that was fine. One of them suggested that a modified announcement could be made to encourage getting something to eat for the long flight. I agreed and said it was their call on how to handle it. During my preflight preparations for the flight to ZZZ1; I received a call from the Chief Pilot on call. He asked if I had permission from someone at Company for what I was doing.I shared with him the timeline of how over the last four days I had tried to get Company approval; and also discussed my reasoning. He did not agree and said it was not Company policy. I reminded him that this was a national emergency. My understanding of the conversation's conclusion was that I have Captain's authority to do what is safe for the flight; but need to be ready to explain what I did. I told him that I understood. The flight to ZZZ1 was uneventful and we passed out cans of water at the halfway point. The passengers seemed very appreciative of our efforts and approach to the pandemic upon deplaning.
Air Carrier Captain reported the crew made the decision to suspend in-flight service for COVID-19 social distancing reasons contrary to company policy.