"airline food" news and stories

Airline food has always struggled with having "quality" attached to its reputation and yesterday's report from the USA Today isn't doing much to help. The two biggest global airline caterers -- Gate Gourmet and LSG Sky Chefs -- were cited as having major hygiene issues in their processing plants as well as using improper storing techniques.

Through the Freedom of Information Act, the USA Today obtained FDA inspection reports of the food facilities over the last two years, with the most disturbing finding occurring at the LSG Sky Chefs' Denver facility, where live roaches were found living amongst dead roach carcasses "too numerous to count." Other pests found included ants and flies, along with positive samples of Listeria bacteria obtained from the facility's floors. And Denver wasn't just the only flawed facility cited: In 2009, rodent evidence was reported in LSG Sky Chefs' Minneapolis facility.

LSG Sky Chefs is a subsidiary of German airline Lufthansa AG and is considered to be the world's second largest supplier of airline meals, behind Gate Gourmet. Along with Lufthansa, LSG Sky Chefs' clients include Delta, America Airlines, United, and Alaska Airlines.

Airline food is the butt of many a joke, and in most cases deservedly so. One airline is looking to (ahem) rise above that stereotype, however. Virgin America is launching new in-flight wine and food pairings that might make you feel like you're dining in the toniest bistro, not in seat 3G. As the airline announced yesterday, Gary Vaynerchuk, wine connoisseur and host of Wine Library TV, has teamed up with the company to offer "fresh, seasonal menu items" along with premium wines -- some of which will be making their debuts at 35,000 feet.

As befits the California-based airline, the first two wine selections are local: the Turnbull Sauvignon Blanc 2008 and Arrowood 2002 Sonoma County Merlot. More wines will be rolled out over the course of the year, promising to make the red-eye to New York one of the most unusual wine-tasting venues yet. In fact, it hearkens back to the early days of air travel, when people dressed up before heading to the airport; a wine list like this might inspire them to do so again.

"Wine is meant to be experienced in a variety of settings," Vaynerchuk pointed out in the company press release. Fair enough, but maybe not too much variety. The complimentary upscale food pairings, which include fruit and cheese platters (red Leicester and sage derby!), tropical fruit appetizers (pepino melon and lemon verbena!), and poached pear with hazelnut crisp cake, are limited to first class. So, spring for the pricier ticket -- or keep your fingers crossed that you'll get bumped up on your next flight.

Even back in the days when airlines weren't suffering like mad, I never thought there was much to the world of air food. I figured there were some powers-that-be types that picked some meals, most likely from an independent food distributor, and that was that. These days, I figured there was even less -- purchase crap, microwave and serve, if they even share more than a granola bar.

Then there was that infamous letter to Virgin Airlines chastising their sorry excuses for food, which led the airline to invite the reader to come to their "catering house" and give his input. Catering houses ... But that's not all -- FOXBusiness now reports that Chef Bryan Caswell, owner of REEF and Little Bigs restaurants in Houston, has been added to Continential Airlines' Congress of Chefs. Not group, not board, but Congress.

Before writing this, I looked up some Continental reviews, since I haven't flown them in a while and perhaps I was missing out on a culinary experience, but reading here, I don't think I have. Or rather, there's an enormous divide between the Business class menu, and the airline that has "won numerous awards for its international BusinessFirst service [and where] Continental's Congress of Chefs and Sommeliers carefully select menus and wines for each country the airline serves."

Flying domestically over the past few years has become increasingly more and more nightmarish. Just last week we had a post on the lack of complimentary food served on domestic flights. Last Sunday, the New York Times had an article about airlines, such as US Airways, that are charging $5 for snacks and $2 for water. Airlines no longer offering basic amenities, like luggage space and meals, is depressing. But, it's more or less expected from airlines that are all on the verge of going out of business. To me, charging for water is the most shocking.

As someone who loves to travel, I'm desperately hoping that US Airways' $2 water bottles do not become a trend on other airlines. We can't bring water through security. So, we'll have no other option than to purchase water at the gate prior to boarding the plane. This means arriving at the airport extra early than we already have to in order to prevent dehydration on a transcontinental flight.

The article in the Times outlines an up-to-date list of current drink and meal offerings from major airlines traveling domestically. It's hard to pinpoint which airline is the stingiest. While Southwest, Spirit, and JetBlue offer no food apart from snacks, American, Delta, United, and Northwest all charge at least $4 for meals. Northwest charges $10 for meals! We all know how delicious airline cuisine is...Hopefully, these airlines will not follow US Airways and take away a simple necessity like water.

We have an in-flight food guide that we posted a couple of weeks ago to help Slashfood readers know what they're in for food-wise on several major airlines this summer. This week, the Wall Street Journal actually took to the skies to taste-test some of the meal options on various airlines. Dubbed the "unfree lunches," since you now almost always have to pay for meals and snacks when you fly.

Many of the "snack" boxes contained little food for the shocking amount of calories they contained, and the exact calorie count could not always be determined, since single-serving "cheeses" were often unlabeled. Overall, you'd do best to pass on the "insultingly skimpy" snack box from ATA ($3), which garnered the "worst snack box" award. United Airlines Right Bite Box ($5), by contrast, was voted the "best snack box" because their selections were "smart," reasonably healthy and stocked with popular brands - including organics. Air Canada was praised for their excellent muffin ($2) and offering of Subway veggie sandwiches ($5). As for the rest? Let's just say that packing your own snack is always a good idea.