"united airlines" 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.

Not that I've ever done it, but I've always known in-flight dining in the first-class seats is, well, classy. Now United Airlines has upped the class factor by teaming with Charlie Trotter. This isn't the first time United has teamed up with a restaurant, either. Earlier this year it introduced a menu from Trader Vic's on its first-class flights to Hawaii.

The famous Chicago chef has crafted two menus, one for first class and one for business class. If I were flying first class, which I expect to be doing after I win next year's James Beard award for food writing, I'd start with the sautéed prawns and crispy short rib won tons with organic Thai barbeque sauce and chilled sweet and sour cucumber relish. I think I'd follow that with orange and ginger cured duck confit with roasted shallot vinaigrette, braised fennel and hazelnut jasmine rice. The very idea of eating duck confit at cruising altitude sounds like some sort of culinary Mile High club.

In the not unlikely event that I don't win a Beard award, the business class menu ain't so bad either. I'd be more than happy to lunch on citrus cured smoked salmon with a caramelized fennel citrus salad. For a main course, I'd go with the mustard braised pork medallion.

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United Airlines first and business class passengers flying between Hawaii and Japan will be served some of Trader Vic's Polynesian cuisine starting Jan. 9, 2007. Trader Vic's design chef Paul Fabre worked with United's Executive Chef Gerry Gulli to design the menu exclusively for United Airlines.

Dinners will include pan seared lamb chops with chutney, Miso glazed halibut with sake lemon grass sauce, and pan seared filet mignon with bearnaise sauce; and an ice cream sundae.

Charlie Ahmes, United's vice president of Onboard Service says "We're excited to partner with Trader Vic's once again to develop a memorable in-flight experience for our customers traveling to and from Hawaii. Our customers' vacation begins once they set foot on a United flight, and being able to serve award-winning cuisine is an added complement to their overall travel experience."

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United Airlines is going native. Polynesian to be specific. The airline has teamed up with Trader Vic's, and will start serving island cuisine on flights to Hawaii this month.

Of course that means that mai tais will be on the menu. After all, Trader Vic Bergeron invented the potent fruity cocktail more than 70 years ago. The main course for those flying first class includes macadamia nut-crusted mahi mahi, Trader Vic's barbeque-glazed short ribs and pan-seared chicken with miso-sake sauce.

Sadly, the economy class menu is not quite as luxe and costs $5. It includes such tropical sandwiches as Maui chicken. But there's always those mai tais.

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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.