5 things airlines won’t tell you about their food
Airline food. The very mention of those two words is enough to provoke a strong — and usually negative — reaction from air travelers across the United States.
How about this one:. Good airline food.
Laughing yet? Maybe not. Maybe you’ve heard all about airline efforts to improve their in-flight fare.
Continental Airlines recently unveiled new menus featuring hot gourmet sandwiches such as roast beef and oven-roasted turkey with gouda cheese on marbled rye bread. Delta Air Lines introduced new signature entrees from celebrity chef Todd English, like smoked salmon and egg salad croissants and roast beef steak Cobb sandwiches. Last summer, Charlie Trotter teamed up with United Airlines to serve up meals like sweet crab salad on fresh bok choy and citrus-cured smoked salmon.
Yum.
It would be tempting to say that the now-profitable airline industry has turned a corner when it comes to customer service. That it really cares about its passengers. But that might be premature.
See, there are a few things the airlines aren’t telling you about the fare up there.
1. “There’s no food on this flight.”
Read the announcements of these new in-flight menus carefully, and it’s clear that the food offerings are extremely limited. For example, the Todd English sandwiches were initially available only on flights between New York and Los Angeles, San Diego, San Francisco and Seattle. Later they were expanded to all flights longer than four hours. But what will your friendly flight attendant on the “new” Delta offer you on shorter hops? Usually a choice between a package of dry roasted peanuts, Biscoff cookies or honey peanut butter crackers.
But surely the fare on longer flights — like, say, transcontinental flights — has to be better? Not necessarily.
“Delta probably takes the dung medal for the worst food,” says Sohail Rana, a professor of medicine in Washington. “On a Washington to Los Angeles flight, all they had was a pepperoni pizza. My family and I are observant Muslims.”
2. “Hope you’re not on a diet.”
No one has to tell you that the snack packs offered by airlines are loaded with calories and unhealthy fats. But the latest DietDetective.com survey of airline food suggests it may be a lot worse than you think. “The individually packaged snacks are oversized and have mega calories,” the survey’s author, Charles Stuart Platkin, writes of American Airlines’ in-flight cuisine. “These snacks should be for a family of four, not one person. They really are a disaster.”
Ouch.
One carrier, Northwest Airlines, admitted that it doesn’t track the nutritional information for its onboard food. Smart air travelers know better than to indulge. Instead, they buy their food at the airport or bring their own on the plane. “The stores and restaurants in the airports must love it, since people can’t go hours without food,” says Helen Grabauskas, a homemaker from Camp Hill, Pa., who has gone hungry on a flight or two because of the inadequate food selection.
3. “Our in-flight cuisine is awful.”
Have a look at the latest Zagat airline survey and you’ll see that with few exceptions, the food really is terrible. As a group, the major airlines are bottom-dwellers, generally scoring 5 out of a possible 20 points (US Airways, Northwest Airlines, American Airlines) or 6 (Southwest, United). Delta got a 7, which is about 35 percent — still an “F.” One reviewer, when asked to describe the food on a major airline, rated it as “pitiful.”
Still don’t believe me? Then check out these real photos of airline meals from the site Airlinemeals.net. Plastic-wrapped sandwich, anyone?
4. “Exact change only, please.”
If you think you’re going to be enjoying any of these new and improved airline meals on your next flight, you’d better either bring cash or pray for an upgrade. The Charlie Trotter meals are available only to first- and business-class passengers, and only on selected transcontinental flights domestically. Ditto for the Todd English food, although you can buy some of his selections in economy class for between $2 and $10.
So what do the rest of us get to eat? On United, $5 buys you a Trader Vic’s turkey wrap, roast beef sandwich or a chicken sandwich. Each is served with a bag of chips. American Airlines offers $5 Italian wraps, a turkey and cheese ciabatta or an Asian chicken wrap. It’s one thing to offer food for purchase on short flights, but Drew Tipton, a senior field specialist for a software company in Cupertino, Calif., was recently offered one of the meals on a transcontinental flight with a stopover. “It just seemed wrong to me — and to several friends who were flight attendants,” he says.
5. “There’s a secret menu — and it’s better.”
Your airline probably won’t volunteer this information, but the food is definitely better if you order from the “secret” menu. And often, the economy class meals from this menu are better than the fare served up front. I’m talking about entrees for passengers with dietary restrictions, such as vegetarians, vegans and diabetics. Be sure to contact your airline at least a day in advance to order the meal. It’s well worth the call.
“Whenever I fly British Airways to London from Denver I order a Muslim meal,” says reader Lynn Ryan. “Out of London, it is restaurant-quality, specially prepared and really delicious.”
So there you have it. Airlines only offer the fabulous in-flight fare on a handful of flights and make you pay for it when you’re sitting in the cheap seats. The rest of the food is pretty dreadful. If you’re worried about the quality, quantity or availability of food on your next flight, don’t believe the flashy announcements being made by the major air carriers. Bring your own food on board. Or at least, bring exact change.
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3 Responses to “5 things airlines won’t tell you about their food”
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Planes are to get you from here to there. They are not supposed to be flying restaurants. All the food is supposed to be/do is to be palatable, safe and stave off hunger until you land. If you want gourmet food, go to a restaurant either before or after your flight. I would rate airline food as “adequate.”
I do think we should be able to bring sandwishes, etc., from outside the security check point. I often wonder if there isn’t collusion somewhere. I haven’t tried, but I believe that you cannot bring an empty clear plastic bottle. I would like to do this and fill it myself at the bubbler and not pay $1 for a bottle!
Usually when you buy food from the supermarket, the food would have some sort of label stating the nutritional content in the food. But sad to say not all foods have that. So for foods that has labels, it would be easier for you to plan your diet. But for foods that have no nutritional labels, you can always visit the huge nutritional database available at http://www.bodybuilding.com It is extremely useful and has a huge range of foods. Nutritional Menus
Another alternative for fantastic food: If you are lucky enough to fly out of LAX or Burbank even Long Beach, I think, there is this cool service called SkyMeals.com. I don’t work for them. I am just a repeat customer. You simply order your meal and tell them where you’ll be, home, work, the Hollywood Bowl(love this one) or the airport. The delivery dude meets you before security, hands you this nifty blue cooler bag packed with everything you need for a lovely meal. the best part is its food so its not counted as another carry on bag and the price includes delivery and you get to keep the bag. Everyone around me was seriously jealous. I’m not sure why more people don’t know about this option but I thinks its an awesome idea. Meals run around 25 for an entree, 5 or 6 for dessert and 8-14 for an appetizer.