AirlineMeals.net news overview related to inflight catering

22 December
Gate Gourmet’s Bob Rosar wins Latin American/Caribbean chef competition
BRESTON, Va. Dec. 22, 2005 – Corporate Executive Chef Bob Rosar, of Gate Gourmet Division Americas, created the winning dish in the first International Inflight Food Service Association (IFSA) “Latin American & The Caribbean Chef Competition.”

Chef Bob competed against two other culinary experts. The three chefs were selected as finalists from the airline, supplier and catering fields to participate in the competition, which was held in conjunction with IFSA’s global leadership conference in Panama City, Panama, on Dec. 6.

Each chef was tasked with designing and preparing one main course entrée using Latin/Caribbean ingredients. In addition to this requirement, judging was based on cooking techniques, plate presentation, and the flavor of the dish itself. The recipe had to be airline affordable for business class, and the preparation process had to be consistent with industry practice, with no special equipment required to serve the dish onboard an aircraft.

Chef Bob’s first place entrée consisted of a Sugarcane Spiked Chicken with Guava Marmalade Glaze and Mango Salsa, accompanied by Lime Braised Yuca, Wilted Spinach and Fried Plantain.

“I drew from memories of my hometown Miami and my love of island flavors to develop the perfect dish,” said Chef Bob. Besides impressing the judges with his original recipes, he uniquely set the stage by creating a full Caribbean experience, complete with reggae music and Piña Coladas, to accompany the tasting.

“The Chef Competition, which was the first for IFSA, was a major success and generated a high level of interest,” said IFSA President Sandra Pineau. “Chef Bob Rosar’s Sugarcane Spiked Chicken was a big hit with the esteemed panel of judges, who focused on originality, flavor, cost and presentation at 30,000 feet. Bob continues to display his culinary talents with both enthusiasm and creativity, enhancing the entire dining experience.”

Chef Bob is currently in talks with airlines about adding his original recipe to Business Class and First Class menus.

source: Gate Gourmet press release

17 December
British Airways Fires Worker Over Walkout
British Airways PLC said Thursday it had fired a worker for orchestrating a walkout that grounded hundreds of flights at Heathrow Airport this summer
source: airportbusiness.com (opens in new window)

15 December
Air Deccan introduces Cafi Coffee Day in the skies
Air Deccan has taken innovation to the skies by making delectable coffee available to the discerning consumer on board now
source: webindia123.com (opens in new window)

13 December
LOT: New meals in business class
In the 05/06 winter season LOT - The Best Eastern European Airline 2005 - welcomes you on board with a colourful mosaic of tasty dishes. Depending on the length of the flight and aircraft type, cold or hot breakfasts are served in business class, with a dessert of fresh fruit and French pastry.

For lunch or dinner passengers flying in Boeing or Embraer aircraft are served hot meals. In our winter menu we are continuing with the modified form of service: a variety of delicate meats and carefully selected boiled vegetables are served directly by our in-flight personnel onto the plate in front of the passenger, which already has cheeses, sauces and other extras. On flights with ATR aircraft we serve cold sets of meat and cured cuts with cheeses and vegetables.

LOT Catering is as usual responsible for supervising the preparation of our meals, to make sure they meet the demands of even the most demanding of gourmets. On certain routes there will also be meals prepared by foreign caterers, made strictly according to our recipes. Passengers in business class on transatlantic flights are served sophisticated hors d'oeuvres, meat dishes, and for dessert ice cream and hot cakes.

When making a reservation or buying a ticket you can as an alternative order one of 19 types of special meals, including vegetarian, fruit or fish, as well as meals made according to the principles of Hinduism, Islam, and kosher cuisine
source: lot.com (opens in new window)

2 December
Gulf Air sponsors Middle East catering conference
Gulf Air is to sponsor the upcoming Middle East Catering Conference (MECC), which will be held from December 2-4, 2005, at the Crown Plaza hotel, Bahrain.
source: noticias.info (opens in new window)

6 November
No free lunch on Air Canada
There's no such thing as a free lunch in this world -- and that now includes a meal on Air Canada.
source: The Vancouver Province, Canada (opens in new window)

2 November
Mile-high gourmet dining
Business behind airline meals is complex, pricey
These days, a hot meal on an airline is by no means a sure thing, even on domestic transcontinental flights. In the days after 9-11, many struggling airlines cut out the meal service altogether on their coach service.
source: The Examiner, San Francisco (opens in new window)

21 October
BA catering deal ends long-running row
British Airways tonight signed a new deal with its caterers at Heathrow Airport, finally bringing to an end a row which led to huge travel disruption in the summer.
The airline signed a commercial agreement with Gate Gourmet, which was involved in a bitter dispute after sacking hundreds of workers.
source: Ireland OnLine (opens in new window)

18 October
Emirates enhances economy class
Emirates, the Dubai-based international airline, is introducing an enhanced, new-look Economy Class across its fleet starting 1st November.
(...) At meal times, customers will also see a change of presentation with their meals served on matching trays and elegant crockery specially designed to represent Dubai's iconic seven-star hotel, the Burj Al Arab. The tray items also feature a classy pearlescent finish that reflect Dubai's heritage in pearl diving.
source: AME info (opens in new window)

12 October
Finnair will serve Portuguese wines in business class on European flights more than two hours' long, 10th October to 6th November
One red and one white wine will be served on the flights. Esporão Reserva Tinto 2001 is a full-bodied, exuberant red with a long flavoursome palate and notes of fig. The aroma is of ripe fruits and vanilla. The wine is an excellent complement to red meat and cheese.
source: kauppalehti.fi (opens in new window)

8 October
Gate Gourmet eyes Indian in-flight meal market
Gate Gourmet is eyeing the $50-million Indian in-flight meal market. The company, which is the world’s second-biggest airline caterer after Lufthansa’s Sky Chef, plans to enter India through a joint venture by the year-end.
source: The Financial Times (opens in new window)

2 October
New BA boss criticises strikers
The new head of British Airways has criticised BA staff who went on strike in August, saying their actions had damaged the airline's reputation.
Willie Walsh, who takes over as BA chief executive on Monday, said the wildcat strike by baggage handlers and check-in staff could not be justified.
source: BBC (opens in new window)

30 September
Jetstar Asia Commences Service between Singapore And Kolkata
A wide range of hot food, snacks and beverages along with duty free items can also be purchased on board.
source: businesstravellerindia.com (opens in new window)

29 September
Strikers at airline caterer accept deal
A mass meeting of workers at Heathrow catering firm Gate Gourmet last night voted to accept a peace deal to end their long-running and bitter dispute.
The company, which supplies 85,000 meals a day to British Airways, sacked several hundred workers, mainly Asian women, in August, sparking one of the biggest industrial disputes for decades.
source: scotsman.com (opens in new window)

25 September
Airline caterers reach out in UK, U.S. as they fight for reinstatement
BRIGHTON, United Kingdom—Two hundred sacked Gate Gourmet workers teemed out of buses in this south coast town September 12, taking their fight to the annual meeting of the Trades Union Congress (TUC). With placards held high, the Transport and General Workers Union (TGWU) members surrounded the entrance hall chanting, “What do we want? Jobs back,” and “Redundancy no way! Compensation no way!”.
source: themilitant.com (opens in new window)

18 June

The Menu at 35,000 Feet
Those Tajiks really know how to put it away. On a flight from Dushanbe to Moscow in 2003, Tajikistan Airlines served business-class passengers a breakfast of cold meats, vegetables, assorted cheeses, hard-boiled eggs with caviar, rolls, chicken Kiev with rice, chocolate and a dish of cherries.
How do we know this? Thanks to airlinemeals.net, a website for that rarest of connoisseurs, the airline-food aficionado.
source : latimes.com (opens in new window)

15 May
Airline food should not make you groan...
Like "estate agent", "airline food" is a term guaranteed to elicit a groan.
Airlines are not just interested in what we will consume: they also want to find out how we like to eat when we're in the air.
source: iol.co.za (opens in new window)

7 May
Sky Chefs feeling effects of airline cutbacks
MOON TWP. - Once upon a time, well over 300 employees worked for LSG Sky Chefs, which does catering for airlines at Pittsburgh International Airport.
source: TimesOnline.com (opens in new window)

3 May
Food service expanded on American
American Airlines passengers are buying enough snack boxes and $5 sandwiches that Sunday the airline expanded the food program to more flights.
source: Star Telegram (opens in new window)

29 April
Meal turbulence - Junk food takes over airline menus
Nutritionists warn that recent changes in food fare aboard many domestic flights make it more important than ever to pack a good lunch with that extra sweater.
source: chicagotribune.com (opens in new window)
(may require free subscription to chicagotribune.com)

28 March
Airlines toss pillows and other frills
Cost-cutting Ryanair, the European budget airline, is eliminating headrest covers, seat pockets and window blinds. Window blinds? American travelers could almost worry that U.S. airlines might be cutting out the glass from the windows.
Northwest has ended free meals and even meals for sale, selling a $3 snack box instead. Several carriers are boasting about the quality of their snacks - a sleight of hand to divert from the fact that normal food has vanished.
source: The Register Guard (opens in new window)

27 March
Cathay Pacific cabin crew cooking competition wins world inflight catering award
Cathay Pacific Airways today announced that its unique "Simply the Best Chef" Cabin Crew Cooking Competition received a Gold medal in the prestigious International Inflight Food Service Association’s 2004 Mercury awards ceremony in Copenhagen.
The company-wide “Simply the Best Chef” competition set crew the challenge of creating special Chinese dishes that could be served inflight..
source: Cincinnati Post (opens in new window)

10 March
Southwest's in-flight food called unhealthy
Southwest Airlines calls it a "tasty snack served up with a little luv."
A leading nutrition group has another name for the airline's in-flight munchies: "Food porn."
Dallas-based Southwest is adding a healthier option to its snacks on long flights, after the Center for Science in the Public Interest slammed the on-board eats as high in calories and devoid of nutritional value.
source: StarTelegram.com (opens in new window)

10 March
Delta cuts pillows, hikes drink prices
Food-for-sale also dropped
On your next Delta flight, bring your own pillow and few more bucks for drinks.
Delta Air Lines is dropping its food-for-sale program, boosting prices on alcoholic beverages and eliminating pillows on many flights, the carrier said Wednesday.
source: Cincinnati Post (opens in new window)

5 March
As many airlines cut back on food service, Air New Zealand takes it up a notch
Air New Zealand today announced the appointment of a star chef from one of Los Angeles’ premier restaurants as the airline’s new menu consultant on flights originating from the United States to New Zealand.
source: TravelVideo.tv (opens in new window)

26 February
Food is airline's bread and butter - Continental sees service as strategic asset
As part of its cost-cutting efforts, Continental Airlines recently changed the embossing on napkins it hands out with in-flight meals.
The move will snare $132,000 or so a year for the Houston-based carrier, which lost $363 million in 2004. But don't look for it to cut back on the food accompanying the napkins, despite its losses
source: Houston Chronicle (opens in new window)

24 February
Whitney's Tummy Woes
Grammy-winning diva was hospitalized in Paris Thursday after becoming violently ill on a transatlantic flight with what was apparently a nasty case of food poisoning
source: Eonline.com (opens in new window)

18 February
After complaints, Midwest drops Sky Chefs meals
Midwest Airlines is revamping its buy-onboard meal program and ending its longtime relationship with LSG Sky Chefs, the world's largest in-flight food service provider
source: bizjournals.com (opens in new window)

17 February
Northwest cuts out free foods
Airline follows competitors with plan to offer snack or sandwich for fee.
Northwest Airlines plans to save between $20 million and $30 million annually by eliminating free meals on all its domestic flights for coach passengers. Instead, it'll offer hungry travelers a choice of buying a $3 snack box or a $5 sandwich.
source: Detroitnews.com (opens in new window)

11 February
Air India to lure passengers with choicest food, drinks
New Delhi, Feb 11 (UNI) Flagship carrier Air India (AI) has planned a series of food festivals to rev up its inflight catering and entertainment services.
From next week, passengers on board flights from New Delhi to London, Frankfurt and the Gulf can savour exotic culinary fare of Awadh (Lucknow) region. The menus will be served for lunch and dinner in all three classes -- first, executive and economy -- and will be presented in collaboration with Ambassador's Sky Chef and Taj SATS Air Catering.
source: Deepikaglobal.com (opens in new window)

6 February
Boxed meals irk 1st-class fliers
Starting this week, US Airways says it is temporarily halting the meals on transcontinental flights because it is switching food vendors. Instead, first-class passengers will receive a complimentary meal in a box, known as In-Flight Cafe -- the same meal boxes available for purchase in coach.
source: The Charlotte Observer (opens in new window)

2 February

Gate Gourmet plans layoffs at Cincinnati airport
Airline catering company Gate Gourmet plans to cut 40 to 50 jobs at the Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport by April 1.
source: Business Courier (opens in new window)