Fodor's Travel Talk Forums - Airline Food--A Modest Proposal

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I say keep the food-like substances coming! Examining, decyphering, and picking out the edible bits is a great time-killer on long hauls, better than the crossword "puzzle" in the in-flight "magazine" and way better than the edited-for-morons movie on your choice of a distant 13" TV monitor or the nearby 6" seatback Cinerama. Besides, flight food is a great and reliable story-telling resource. We all have airline food stories, don't we? (That's a question - have their been any good airline dining threads on this forum?)

We flew KLM in '98 to Zurich via Amsterdam and back. I guess I was lucky. The sandwich snack we got was Camembert! Warm, too, but not runny. I could not complain about that, being as how that is one of my favorite cheeses. But a Dutch burrito?? That's about like Montana iced tea or American beer.

I had good (and interesting) food on KLM amsterdam to Paris last year. Nice yogurt, sandwiches with some kind of spread and fresh fruit. Northwest had it's usual nasty airline food. Lately my domestic flights have had ridiculously small meals, I mean that the food was small, a 3 oz carton of juice and a package of mini muffins. Perhaps on the theory that if it take up less room on the tray you won't notice how horribly close the seat in front of you is.

I ALWAYS pack a bunch of METRx bars (those high-protein/high calorie bars popular with people who seriously work out at the gym.) I then just nibble at whatever salad and vegetable is served...often trading my entree with someone else for their salad/vegetable. Check out the labels on these bad-boys: Tons of protein/vitamins/minerals...perfect for the strenous week or two ahead of sightseeing,etc. I have a bar a day while on vacation, too.

I have two nominations for the worst airline meal ever served. First, Capitol Airlines, which I took between New York and Los Angeles in the 80s. They are now defunct. For the outbound flight, the flight attendants handed everyone a package of Cup-O-Soup. Then they walked the cabin with plenty of hot water for everyone. On the return flight, they served us cold Chicken McNuggets. No kidding. Second submission is Northwest Airlines on a Christmas flight between Baltimore and Phoenix. I requested a veggie meal. For the dinner entree, they served a small plate of white rice and potato cubes. In my book, that's prison food.

I had that burrito from KLM, interesting to say the least, and I said a lot more about it than that. I suppose it was meant to be heated as it contained vegetable matter but it was tepid at one end and as I ate my way down it got cooler and cooler until I was chewing cold yellow sludge.

On a regional carrier in Alaska I was once presented with a Spam sandwich on raisin bread. On Aeroflot I was once given a PVC sack (real PVC) containing an egg and a whole cucumber. Bon apetite!

Does anyone remember the hot soup and cheese/crackers and fruit that Eastern Airlines used to serve. It really wasn't bad. I also once had really good duck on BA. The thing to do is either eat before you board and then sleep on the plane.

Hey! Welcome back Tony!

I'll second that .. good to "see" you again Tony. I've been away for 2 weeks (to London) so if you posted before sorry I missed it.

Unfortunately, I can't remember the name of the the airline or the destination, but I certainly can recall the sandwich. My husband was served the standard-issue ham sandwich. I, who had requested the vegetarian option, was served the same sandwich minus the ham: bread, mustard and lettuce! Is this any way to run an airline?

I've only had one questionable meal so far on a flight from Toronto to London on Air India, but I think it was the cultural diffences of taste (we were served some sort of curried dish). As the original post made reference to the fact of most of us travelling 'steerage' and considering the price we pay, we can't expect to walk into a McDonalds, pay a McDonalds price, and get a five star meal. Besides, the one meal we have to endure on a flight in steerage class, has to be far better than the numerous meals that had to be endured in the same class a couple of generations ago on an ocean liner.

Austin, someone may be listening: Monday May 1, 10:42 am Eastern Time Company Press Release SOURCE: Delta Air Lines, Inc. Delta Air Lines Enhances Meal Service for International Economy Class Passengers ATLANTA, May 1 /PRNewswire/ -- Starting today, Delta Air Lines' customers traveling abroad in international economy class will enjoy improvements and additions to their meal service, with more to come next month. The enhancements result from feedback from customers and a month of new product testing on some of Delta's international routes. New hot breakfast sandwiches, Quaker Oats cereal bars and fresh fruits have been added or have replaced existing breakfast service items. Snack services feature larger, improved quality sandwiches, bottled water and either Oreo cookies, Ghirardelli chocolate, Breyers ice cream sandwiches or one of two flavors of ice cream bars from Europe. Dinner services now include new European and American influenced entrees, and new meals featuring Omaha Steaks. Increased portions and upgrades to salads, rolls, crackers and butter will arrive on June 1, as will the addition of bottled water and Dove chocolate. ``Our passengers' feedback was key in helping Delta develop this latest round of enhancements to our international meal service,'' said Hannelore Perez, manager -- in-flight dining international. ``We conducted extensive polling and testing to ensure products were selected that our customers would enjoy the most. These enhancements address the requests that we most frequently received, those being name brand products, new flavors and heartier portions.'' Economy class customers on a total of 94 flights will benefit from the changes, with an average of 20,723 meals served daily affected. Meal service on all international routes to Europe, Rio de Janeiro and Japan will be upgraded.

Just testing the index build

fabulous reads 1

The food is disgusting, pure and simple. Occasional exceptions, but overall so poor that I've finally just decided to bring my own and that's that. Even the smell is enough to make me ill.

I flew Delta back to the U.S. on Sunday and refused the meal. The first flight attendant was hesitant to let me skip it, but I assured him that I'd brought my own. The next flight attendant (manning the beverage cart) was also worried that I'd get hungry. I told her I'd brought my own, and then asked her, in a shushed voice, "I mean, do you eat the food?" She replied, "In extreme circumstances."

My ham sandwich and apply pastry (both purchased in the Madrid airport) were delicious.

You gotta go here: http://www.airlinemeals.net/

How about quality cold cuts ("Boars Head" level), a few slices of quality cheese, crisp bread, mustard and salt & pepper? This would serve as an interim meal in place of the trash that is served.

Oh Gardyloo, however did you stumble on that website? I've added it to my Favorites for detailed perusal later.

There have been some posts about people actually liking the airline food. I have to admit, the only airline food I liked and even looked forward too was the sliced boiled egg and mushroom hero on the LOT flight from Heathrow to Warsaw, maybe it was the mushrooms, I dont know, but it was good all four times I have had it.