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Airlines Colluded to Ensure Onboard Food Would Be Awful
- verdverm 3y agoI recall how much better the experience of flying British Airways was, notably the food and drinks. Too bad it was only once
- gosub100 3y agoI've heard it as a general rule when flying internationally to always choose the foreign carriers over a US one.
- jordanb 3y agoMy TATLs: BA on 777: really nice Virgin Atlantic on A-340: awful Icelandair on 757: truly awful KLM on 777: pretty nice I don't think just avoiding the American flag is enough.
- smt88 3y agoThat's a bad rule of thumb. Some foreign airlines are significantly worse than the better US airlines like Delta. You also have to consider safety (some airlines only fly Airbus planes, some are mostly Boeing), cost, and convenience.
- hedora 3y agoFrom what I’ve seen, it works extremely well if you’re traveling to a western country.
- anymouse123456 3y agoAs another said, it depends on the country. But if the options include JAL or ANA, always take them over any US carrier. They are not even the same kind of thing compared to what we endure in the US.
- jordanb 3y agoBA used to have the 777s with 9-across seating. That was the best way to cross the atlantic in the main cabin of any airline.
- chii 3y agogood airline food but at a higher ticket price is not what consumers actually choose to buy. They'd rather suffer and get a discount on the ticket. They merely complain about that suffering.
- stephenr 3y agoIsn't the point that food in economy class is often worse than it needs to be for the cost, and food in first class is not good enough to justify the massively increased ticket price?
- cj 3y agoYes, but many don’t buy first class for the food. On a red eye (often don’t serve much food at all and if they do it’s very rushed) it might be you need to sleep for a meeting tomorrow. Or if you’re tall, leg room + basic comfort.
- tracker1 3y agoAs a fat and tall guy, it's all about the extra free inches of space. Worst seat is the back isle. Person in front of my pushed seat back and dislocated my knee. Short notice flying for work can really suck.
- stephenr 3y agoI guess everything is relative. I'm 180cm and definitely could stand to lose some weight so I've experienced some uncomfortable flights - generally on Qantas. Surprisingly (given average national height/weight) the best legroom I've had was on Thai, followed by Singapore airlines. But then I can't compare to US airlines, which if stories are true, sound just horrific by comparison for any number of reasons before legroom is even a factor.
- stephenr 3y agoThat's kind of irrelevant though. The parent comment claimed that people "choose" the worse option, ignoring that the "better" option is marginally better food for usually 2x or 3x the price. I haven't flown domestically (in any country) in about 10 years. The shortest leg of recent trips will be ~2 hours, either followed or preceded by a ~7-9 hour flight. Parent's comment suggests I'm "choosing" worse food options (thankfully they are still an option, you can just choose not to eat on the plane) as if that's the only factor. It couldn't possibly be that business class on the same route is more than 4x the cost, and for a family of 3 will cost the same as a brand new small car... just to get a slightly better reheated meal. Yes the meal is in a "nicer" seat, but that isn't the argument being made in the parent comment, is it?
- cityzen 3y agoRead an article about this a few years back that was title Vile High Club. Loved it so much I grabbed the domain. It may have been this article: https://skift.com/2012/11/18/fda-finds-airlines-outside-caterers-are-preparing-in-flight-meals-among-rodents-and-flies/ https://skift.com/2012/11/18/fda-finds-airlines-outside-cate...
- Dalewyn 3y agoGranted I generally fly business class on Delta and ANA (because long hauls in economy is miserable), I find the food is great given the context. YMMV.
- theideaofcoffee 3y agoSame, meals in Delta One on both transatlantic and North<->South America routes are actually something I look forward to on my trips—those short ribs are scrumptious! Domestic first can be hit or miss, mostly miss because I miss lunch time flights (haha), but they too also been mostly acceptable. If I anticipate something not great, I’ll stow away some shake shack.
- jjulius 3y agoI came here to say the same thing (well, about Delta's domestic coach service). I will fuck with Delta's chicken salad sandwich all day long and am always disappointed if they're out before I can order one.
- dboreham 3y agoUh. It's nothing like as bad as it was 20-30 years ago.
- dan-robertson 3y agoThe article is about the ’70s.
- jacurtis 3y agoThanks, I'm glad I wasn't the only one thinking this. Airline food used to be AWFUL. Like you would honestly not even bother unless you were on a very long flight and needed it. My experience is that the last 10 years or so, most airlines have decent food. It is nothing to get excited about or to look forward to, but compared to how bad it used to be it is now quite good. I would rate a lot of the food I've had on flights as fair to average. Compare that to "i'll only eat it if this flight spans two mealtimes" of the 80s-90s and here we are. Singapore Airlines is actually quite good (even in coach). ANA is also good. If you fly on a US Carrier, just know its all the same provider regardless of airline. Their food is meh: perfectly edible, but not good. Pasta dishes usually reheat quite well, so that's often the safe bet when choosing a meal option. Trust us guys. If you think food now is bad... you don't know what they COULD be serving you.
- jjav 3y ago> but compared to how bad it used to be it is now quite good Now there is no food (unless you pay first class) so how can it be better? Airplane food was never great but in the 90s it was fine, and free, and if nothing else it provided for something to do in the endless boredom of a long flight. Today there's nothing, so it's worse in every way.
- listenallyall 3y agoIt's actually not awful, and besides, without an oven or grill or fryer, how good could it possibly be?
- debian3 3y agoCheck out some youtube video on Emirates or Singapore airlines on their suite experience on the A380. You will see how great the food can be before you go take your shower and go to sleep in your full size bed.
- kristofferR 3y agoYeah, but that's a A380.. Normal airplanes, especially basic two row jets, doesn't have the same kitchen space.
- listenallyall 3y agoI've been on Emirates A380. Best in-air experience there is. The food is good. But even in First Class you're getting, at best, reheated tray food, just transfered to fine china. It's not even close to eating at a great restaurant.
- dzhiurgis 3y agoSandwich press, pie heater or anything that a gas station or convenience store can serve can be trivially done onboard.
- listenallyall 3y agoYour standard for quality food is a gas station?
- dzhiurgis 3y agoNot saying it's "quality" but you might never seen a decent gas station food. In Lithuania I often prefer gas station sub over local restaurants. In NZ some stations cater decent pies. Either of two is better than "chicken or vegetarian" option on many flights.
- taion 3y agoI'm not sure why this piece mentions deregulation. The drinks limit was in 1956, while the sandwich spat was in 1958 – but deregulation wasn't until 1978, two decades later! The collusion in question seems to only relate to regulation, which prohibited the airlines from competing on price. The incentives obviously don't work out the same with deregulation!
- masto 3y agoIt was kind of a weirdly written intro, but I think it was meant to set up "here are some examples of how ridiculous things were before deregulation".
- 1vuio0pswjnm7 3y agoIt mentions deregulation because it is challenging a purported assumption that the only airline regulations before 1978 were those set by government. Arguably it was the government regulation against competing on price that led to the industry regulations on food service. Airlines tried to compete on other bases so food service was much better than what it is today.
- ourmandave 3y ago"My clients were concerned about how obese Americans were getting and this was their misguided answer, your Honor." ~ Some Defense Counselor
- j7ake 3y agoThis is obvious for anyone who took an airlines outside of USA eg Singapore air, Emirates, Cathay and ate real food with real cutlery and got a tub of hagendaz ice cream for dessert.
- Symbiote 3y ago[dead]
- yowzadave 3y agoInteresting to hear that they serve a good American ice cream!
- illiac786 3y agoI would not put Häagen-Dazs in the category "good" necessarily. They also do crap.
- wodenokoto 3y agoEmirates? Are we talking business or economy? Because emirates hasn’t served nice food on economy for years.
- asylteltine 3y ago[dead]
- mauvehaus 3y agoYears back, I read the life hack of requesting a Halal meal. I can confirm that on the one flight that I both got fed and received the same, the food seemed superior to the non-Halal options. The other life hack is, of course, to bring your own food. I can confirm that I've gotten the stink-eye a couple times for pulling out my own food while everyone else was suffering whatever was rejected by the inmates at the state penitentiary. Frankly, if you're flying out of Italy, and are eating airline food, you're flat-out doing it wrong.
- dzhiurgis 3y agoI gave my partner stink eye for trying to bring hard boiled eggs onboard ("Kids love them and we had leftover ones I didn't wanna leave")...
- renewiltord 3y agoIt's pretty decent, to be honest, but I usually bring snacks if I'm not flying out of Hawaii (which does not permit that).
- DaveExeter 3y agoIf anyone is longing for the pre-deregulation days of aviation, ticket prices were a lot higher back then. My grandmother was telling me about her honeymoon in Europe in the 1960s. Inflation-adjusted, the tickets were $3000 each! Flying back then was better for smokers. They used to have smoking sections on planes. Grandpa loved his Chesterfields.
- TillE 3y agoI've flown long distance economy a lot, and business class a few times, and I just wish airlines would serve sandwiches instead of elaborate, mediocre meals. It would probably be better, and it would definitely be easier to eat in a cramped economy seat.
- mysterydip 3y agoDating myself, but I flew TWA back in the day and we got a complete bag lunch with sandwich and a few other things, complimentary. It's been downhill since then, but maybe that extra cost is why they're not around anymore?
- emeril 3y agoI enjoyed flying Midwest Express a long time ago - it was like the whole plane of business class service
- a_random_canuck 3y agoI’m living in Asia and when I need to fly I’ll just buy a meal at 7-Eleven or Family Mart to bring on the flight. It’s amazing how these convenience stores can make good quality food so cheap but the airlines somehow can’t provide. Business class is rarely worth it, it’s not priced for mere mortals. Most people have a corporation buying their tickets, or are using air miles to reduce the price, or they are 1%ers, etc.
- dzhiurgis 3y ago> Business class is rarely worth it If you manage to buy it at 2x price of economy it's absolutely worth it, hands down. At more typical 6x it's not really.
- makeitdouble 3y agoSandwiches can also be awful subpar meals though. I fully trust airlines to ruin them thoroughly the same way they did with the other meals. I'd take tasteless warmed potato puree over tasteless soggy yet chewy triangle sandwich.
- shmerl 3y ago> The airline industry body declared that sandwiches had to be “cold… simple… unadorned… inexpensive” Lol, it reminds be Robert Sheckley's "A Ticket To Tranai", where they were looking for innovative ideas how to make robots worse on purpose.
- eftychis 3y agoAnecdotal story/take: The Aegean Airlines (Europe) business seat has much, much better food in a 20-minute flight than the comparable business 5-7-hour flight in the U.S. (And for a lower price, but I'm not sure that is important to the point.) But the article does take a weird take. Also not sure how collusion is claimed here. I guess CAB counts as a forcing mechanism, but I am not sure one can argue collusion when it is the result of regulation. Was the regulation in bad faith?
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]
- mcphage 3y ago> in a 20-minute flight than the comparable business 5-7-hour flight in the U.S. (And for a lower price, but I'm not sure that is important to the point.) Well, it does cost considerably more to fly an airplane for 5-7 hours than it does to fly an airplane for 20 minutes.
- deleted 3y ago[deleted]