5 things airlines won't tell you about their food

isilzha · 01-12-2008, 12:21 PM

5 things airlines won't tell you about their food

Story Highlights
Many shorter flights don't offer anything more than snack food
Some of the meals for people with dietary restrictions are better
Call your airline at least a day in advance to order those meals

By Christopher Elliott
Tribune Media Services
(Tribune Media Services) -- Airline food. The very mention of those two words is enough to provoke a strong -- and usually negative -- reaction from any passenger.
But let's add another word. Good airline food.
Laughing yet? Maybe not. Maybe you've heard all about airlines' 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 marble 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. This summer, Charlie Trotter teamed up with United Airlines to serve up meals such as 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 a little premature.
See, there are a few things the airlines aren't telling you about the fare up there.

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Food Network Fan · 01-12-2008, 12:43 PM

I worked as a security screener at our local airport when I was 19 years old. They had to take the food cart to the plane from a very small restaurant inside. Sometimes if a flight was late the food sat out by the gate unrefrigerated even on a hot day. I am amazed they never poisoned anyone. We only have 2 gates here and one door downstairs where you have to actually walk out where the plane is parked to get on. They don't have meals anymore flying out of here, all of our flights are puddle jumpers to larger cities now. They replaced the restaurant with a local pizza and biscuit chain for people who want to eat before getting on the plane.