Vicki Williams and Jenny Southan investigate new attempts to spice up airline food for economy passengers
Believe it or not, once upon a time flying, even in economy, was glamorous, and airline food was something to get excited about – really, it was.
Now, flying is often more a chore than a pleasure; even before you board the aircraft you have had to take off your shoes, remove your belt, remove your laptop from your hand luggage, ensure that your liquids comply, and make sure not to say the wrong thing. For those in the back section of the plane the in-flight entertainment is more likely to be the main source of nourishment and satisfaction than the trays of reheated, overcooked produce that pass for food in economy class. (No wonder it is referred to as cattle class – although perhaps cattle are better fed.
A higher class of cooking
The good news is that soon it may not be necessary to pack a lunchbox to ensure a pleasurable meal in economy, as some key airlines are now committed to developing and evolving economy class meals.
Emirates, for example. The airline beat 34 other airlines in a recent survey of 1,200 people by flight comparison site skyscanner.net based on the taste, presentation and choice of its meals. Other Asian carriers to finish in the top 10 were Singapore Airlines (SIA), Malaysia Airlines and Thai Airways.
Robin Padgett, vice-president of aircraft catering for Emirates, says: “The key to the success of our food is attention to detail, quality and being generous. One of the easiest ways to save money is on catering but we have resisted that – last year, we invested more in it than we ever have. Just because you are sitting at the back end of the plane, it doesn’t mean you shouldn’t have great food, portions and beverages.”
The airline’s economy class meals also rate highly on AirlineMeals.net. The website is dedicated purely to airline food with frequent travellers uploading pictures and rating meals.
Emirates is not alone in this thinking. “There is a trend towards slightly improving the quality of economy meals,” says Josefine Corsten, senior vice-president, corporate communications & marketing, LSG Sky Chefs. “For example, one of our major airline customers has improved the menu by increasing the portion of protein in the economy class appetiser and main.” LSG is a provider of in-flight services, including meals, producing approximately 460 million airline meals each year.
Some Asian-based airlines are also following this trend by improving quality, variety and portioning, says Corsten.
Evolving equipment
Maverick Air New Zealand (ANZ) is using technology to improve its meals: this will eventually allow à la carte ordering, even in economy. Matt Cooper, international airline product and service manager, says: “We are working to create a restaurant-type experience in-flight.” To achieve this, ANZ has become the first carrier to install state-of-the-art induction ovens, as opposed to traditional convection ones, and even a toaster – something very few airlines offer – onboard its new Boeing B777-300ERs.
The revolutionary ovens allow food to be cooked to order (only in business and premium economy at the moment, though they will be installed in economy too for standard reheating), so you can now get your steak medium-rare and your eggs soft-poached. They will even be able to bake pizzas and grill burgers, and in the future, there is the possibility of enabling economy passengers to purchase such dishes through the in-flight entertainment system.
Cooper adds: “Induction ovens give us great opportunities to increase the freshness of food and provide customers with greater control over what they are eating. We’ll continue to increase the variety of meals as we gain in-flight experience with the equipment over the coming months.”
If the ovens prove to be as successful as Cooper believes they will, you can expect the major players in Asia-Pacific to follow, but for now they are still in the explorative stages. Charles Grossrieder, Cathay Pacific manager catering services, says: “We always aim to explore new possibilities, from technical, environmental as well as culinary perspectives, to address the needs of passengers today… and the needs of passengers tomorrow.”
A Singapore Airlines spokesperson says: “SIA continues to keep in touch with galley equipment manufacturers to review how new and evolving kitchen technologies could be applied on our future aircraft.”
Local flavour
One way that Cathay, SIA, Korean Air, Garuda Indonesia and other carriers in the region seek to improve their economy class dining experience is through the cuisine itself, that is, serving dishes that are ethnically authentic.
For example, Cathay regularly teams up with leading restaurants in Hong Kong to produce special ethnically authentic menus. Currently, it is the Miramar Group. Chefs from eight of the group’s restaurants worked closely with Cathay to adapt 90 dishes to be suitable for serving onboard. Cuisines represented include Cantonese and Sichuanese. “The ethnicity of our food is one feature that sets us apart from our competitors,” notes Grossrieder.
“One of Korean Air’s cuisine strengths is authentic Korean-style catering. For example our bibimbap (Korean mixed rice), which we developed, has gained wide recognition throughout the years because of its authenticity and taste,” says a Korean Air spokesperson.
Hiring chefs is one route that Garuda is exploring in an effort to distinguish the airline and its economy meals from competitors. “We have recently hired an experienced chef from the hotel industry as our F&B manager, she understands catering on a large scale, but with an emphasis on quality,” explains a Garuda spokesperson. “Similarly we have another chef onboard as culinary advisor with a wealth of knowledge from a background in the hospitality industry.”
Not content with just these measures, the airline has also introduced a meal service on flights that previously were meal-free in economy. “We have extended our meal service for economy class to include any flight over 1hr 40min – our menu offers a wide range of authentic choices from Indonesian, Asian and Western cuisines. We are committed to changing the menu to match our passenger profile, to using locally sourced ingredients and maintaining authenticity.”
The spokesperson adds, “Our most distinguishing factor among regional competitors is that there are certain routes where competitors simply do not offer economy class guests a dining option, where we do. Thanks to fantastic, efficient cabin crew lowering the time necessary in which to host a dinner service, we can offer at least one dinner service, for example, on a short flight like the route between Jakarta and Singapore.”
SIA also works with culinary professionals. “Singapore Airlines takes its commitment to maintaining high standards of in-flight dining very seriously. We have an International Culinary Panel made up of world-famous chefs (such as Gordon Ramsey) from around the world who design many of our menu items. Variants of some of these dishes are sometimes introduced in our economy class meals. Wherever we are operating from, we also seek to feature local favourites in that market in our menus. We frequently refresh our menu items so that our frequent flyers always have something new to look forward to.”
Wider choice
In what other ways might dishes progress? In response to growing demand to cater to individual needs and lifestyle choices, many carriers have altered menus either by providing icons indicating lighter options or, more unusually, a breakdown of the calorie/nutritional content.
British Airways reports that requests for its special meals, such as Hindu, Kosher, low fat, low lactose, vegetarian, vegan and diabetic, have gone up. Mark Hassell, British Airways’ head of product and service, says: “People don’t want to feel uncomfortable or stodgy, and there is a continual requirement for greater flexibility and choice.”
This is something that Korean Air has also found, and consequently it has introduced a special healthy choice option. “Our recent introduction of a low-calorie in-flight meal which features organic salad, offers a tasty choice for health-conscious passengers.” Cathay Pacific also favours flexibility, providing ultra long-haul economy passengers with a snack service throughout the flight.
Upgraded food, for a price, is also being explored by some airlines including ANZ, which allows people to buy business class wine, champagne and snacks via the in-flight entertainment system. Meanwhile, Japan’s ANA has introduced the “My Choice” service, which allows economy passengers to buy two business class meals (inclusive of a drink with each meal) in advance for ¥8,000 (US$99.50). It’s a trend that will no doubt grow in the future, as airlines tap into a new source of ancillary revenue.
Slowly but surely seems to be the outlook for the evolution and improvement of economy class meals. By the time the next generation of travellers are taking to the skies, it’s likely that they will be tucking into freshly prepared top-tier food even at the back of the plane – albeit at a price. Until then, you might want to make time to grab a bite or purchase food before your flight is called if you want to be more in control of your dining experience when flying.
