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The Washington Post

The rattle of a flight attendant’s service cart sparks a nostalgic joy in me. No matter how many times I fly, I perk up when those trolleys come rumbling down the aisle. What will the flight attendant hand me this time?
Sometimes food on a plane sets the tone for your trip, like a baguette and a glass of wine on Air France or an ube pastry on Philippine Airlines. Sometimes it fails to do that, like the goo an airline served to me as “pasta” on a flight to Chile.
Not getting a meal at all is a possibility as well.
Today, you will not find a lot of food on most US domestic flights. If you do, you are likely to be paying for it, or it’s just a snack.

While many fliers complain about paying for food on planes, it is actually the way things were from the very beginning.
Passengers on Handley Page Transport’s repurposed World War I bombers from London to Paris in 1919 experienced the first in-flight meal. It was a pre-packaged lunchbox that cost roughly three shillings (the equivalent today of US$9.50).
Pan American World Airways (Pan Am) was also a leader in swanky in-flight food service.

One meal on a 1939 flight started with a tropical fruit cocktail, followed by cream of tomato soup, a half-grilled chicken with wine sauce, wax beans and Delmonico potatoes.
Then there was the Concorde. About 30 times more expensive than the standard transatlantic flight, a ride on the Concorde was pure luxury.
But the glory days of free-flowing champagne and canapés proved unsustainable. The in-flight experience took a turn with deregulation.

“Deregulation was the game-changer, because you had all these low-cost carriers coming in and starting to compete against the higher-class carriers,” says commercial airline historian Shea Oakley.
“Back in the old days, it was about the service. Now, people want speed,” says Enda Kavanagh, product manager for in-flight customer experience at Aer Lingus. While the Irish carrier had to speed up its service, it still offers complimentary meals in economy. This isn’t the norm in a post-deregulation world.
Airlines began to unbundle their services as a way to earn more revenue while keeping ticket prices competitive. If a meal did come your way, it was not a multi-course experience, but a small rectangle covered in aluminium foil.
For fresh herbs, you need more than double the ingredients to reach the same flavour you would get on ground level
Lufthansa catering executive Ernst Derenthal
The future of airline food may not be doomed, however. There are people working hard to make aeroplane food better.
If you’ve flown internationally on a major carrier, you’ve probably eaten a Gate Gourmet in-flight meal. Founded in Switzerland, Gate Gourmet is a catering company that services 700 million passengers annually, with some 200 locations in more than 60 countries.
According to Gate Gourmet general manager Jim Stathakes, there has been a shift in the airline catering industry, thanks to the competition among carriers.
“In the past 10 to 15 years, a lot of food has been removed from the economy class, especially domestically,” says Stathakes. “Now the airlines are starting to put food back in economy.”

Cooking for people is vastly different when they’re going to be eating that meal on an aeroplane. The lower pressure of an airline cabin wreaks havoc on the senses.
Lufthansa, Germany’s largest airline, learned this in 2010 after it commissioned a study from the Fraunhofer Institute for Building Physics to look at the science of in-flight dining.
“For fresh herbs, you need more than double the ingredients to reach the same flavour you would get on ground level,” says Lufthansa catering executive Ernst Derenthal. “Dry herbs do not work very well.”

Taste tests were conducted in a grounded plane inside a tent with pressure made to imitate an altitude of 10,000 feet (3,048 metres). Recipes were adjusted accordingly. They learned that certain ingredients translate easily from the ground to the air. Warm spices like cinnamon, cardamom and chilli showed no difference.
Cooking innovations are also happening before ingredients even get to the catering kitchen.
Near New Jersey’s Newark Liberty International Airport, AeroFarms is the world’s largest indoor vertical farm, a huge 70,000 sq ft (6,500 square metre) operation that can harvest up to two million pounds (900,000 kilograms) of produce per year.
Produce is grown in a fully controlled indoor facility using an aeroponic system that requires 95 per cent less water than field farming. Besides being more environmentally sustainable, the system speeds up harvest cycles and yields more safe and consistent crops.

Singapore Airlines launched a new “farm-to-plane” initiative using AeroFarms produce in its business-class offerings on the SQ21 Newark-to-Singapore route. The next step will be on the JFK-to-Singapore flights, followed by putting the produce in all cabin classes.
AeroFarms ingredients can be grown just in time for a flight, picked and prepared for flying.
Singapore Airlines is far from the only airline working on upping the ante on its plane food starting at farm level. Last year, Crop One Holdings partnered with Emirates Flight Catering to give AeroFarms a run for its money by announcing they would spend US$40 million to build the world’s largest vertical farming facility in Dubai.
Scandinavian Airlines sources organic, hand-picked ingredients from farms they can readily name, as well as other Scandinavian treats.
While the service may never generally return to what it was in air travel’s “glory days”, there are steps being taken to ensure the food served in the sky is both sustainable and delicious.


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Aviation

The future of aeroplane food: snacks and sustainability

In-flight meals, like the ones served on Korean Air, are often the first things to go when airlines cut costs – but the future of plane food is far from over. Photo: Alamy

Aerofarms.Photo: HANDOUT[FEATURES 2019]

EPR929 A meal on an international Korean Air flight.

G2T1JD China Eastern Airlines Flight attendant passing out meals

DXBJCE Plane meal: Woman eating and drinking while watching entertainment in the cabin of an aircraft - Virgin Atlantic flight from Dubai to London

J579JR A commercial jet liner being stocked with on board food and snacks by ground services, pre flight, whilst parked on a stand In a airport

TCBEFT Asian passenger reading the magazine / menue / catalog while waiting for plane take of inflight.

An in-flight service revolution aboard first 20-hour, non-stop flight – spicy food, bright lights for first six hours to combat jet lag

Qantas flies the world’s first 20-hour, non-stop flight from New York to Sydney on Friday. Data gathered from the journey will help to tackle jet lag on ultra-long-haul flights. Photo: Qantas

PH5KGN Tail fin of a Qantas Airbus A380 "super jumbo" jet at London Heathrow airport.

Pilots will wear brain monitors during the nearly 20-hour flight. Photo: Qantas

A0MXX0 Qantas Boeing 737 at Canberra Airport

Themed dining experiences on trend in Singapore, where food is the starting point for a cultural journey via music, sensory experiences and hands-on cooking

Barramundi with turmeric, galangal, lemongrass served with torched ginger, coconut, and apple slaw at a Once Upon A Secret Supper event in Singapore. Photo: Elodie Bellegrade

--Brunch Bandits--Handout image shows Ethiopian injera platter in Singapore, organised by Brunch Bandits.[15OCTOBER2019 FEATURES] CREDIT: Brunch Bandits

-Restaurant Zen-Interior, Restaurant Zen, Singapore. [15OCTOBER2019 FEATURES] CREDIT: Instagram / @restaurantzen.sgp

--Le Petit Chef--Handout image shows Le Petit Chef, at the Grand Hyatt Singapore.[15OCTOBER2019 FEATURES] CREDIT: Le Petit Chef,

-- Once Upon A Secret Supper--Handout image shows  Secretos De Mexico. Ode to cacao gods. Mexican chocolate tostada, Mole Poblano ice cream, amaranth candy, cacao nibs, candied orange peel and organic edible flowers.jpg, in Singapore.[15OCTOBER2019 FEATURES] CREDIT: Elodie Bellegrade

-- Once Upon A Secret Supper--Handout image shows Secretos de Mexico dinner, Wild caught parrot fish ceviche with pico de gallo, homemade aioli and bbq corn.jpg, in Singapore.[15OCTOBER2019 FEATURES] CREDIT: Elodie Bellegrade

--Lionel Chee-Lionel Chee, who is also SingaporeÕs ambassador at the World Food Travel Association.[15OCTOBER2019 FEATURES] CREDIT: World Food Travel Association

--Once Upon A Secret Supper--Handout image shows Angie Ma - Founder Once Upon A Secret Supper.[15OCTOBER2019 FEATURES] CREDIT: Brunch Bandits.

-Restaurant Zen-Hot smoked and  BBQ quail, kabu, wasabi, pata negra , Restaurant Zen, Singapore.  [15OCTOBER2019 FEATURES] CREDIT: Instagram / @restaurantzen.sgp

--Brunch Bandits--Handout image shows Tablescape at Pan Africanism - with plantain and jollof rice arancini in profile - with a charmoula dipin Singapore, organised by Brunch Bandits.[15OCTOBER2019 FEATURES] CREDIT: Brunch Bandits.

Singapore is embracing curated dining experiences that combine food, music and decoration from different cultures. A Peranakan dining experience (above) at a mini museum/dining venue in Katong, Singapore.

Visiting Hong Kong has never been cheaper as protests drag on – US$400 fares from New York, US$180 from Singapore, anybody?

Flights to Hong Kong from Europe and North America, as well as from closer to home, are cheap in October. Photo: Alamy

BEBWHC Swiss Air aircraft taxiing for take off from Manchester Airport (Ringway Airport) in Manchester, England

Image of the Junk boat, Aqua Luna and a Star Ferry at Victoria Harbour. 19SEP19 SCMP / Edward Wong

The sudden drop in tourism caused by anti-government protests has seen airfares to and from Hong Kong plunge. Photo: Bloomberg

Lifestyle

Travel & Leisure


In-flight meals have continuously evolved since their inception in 1919 thanks to a competitive industry
From Singapore Airlines to Emirates, airlines around the world are re-examining how food on a plane should taste and from where it is sourced



From Singapore Airlines to Emirates, airlines around the world are re-examining how food on a plane should taste and from where it is sourced.


Travel news and advice

Luxury travel

Food and Drinks

Conservation