Ever Wondered How In-flight Meals Are Prepared? Let’s Lift the Veil
Sometimes, we’re so focused on getting to our destination that we take for granted the many small touches airlines incorporate to make our journeys comfortable. One of these is the in-flight meals we enjoy in the air.
Many food enthusiasts agree that airline cuisine is an experience. Indeed, some passengers use their British Airways Avios just to enjoy the unique cuisines on famous airlines. But how does the British Airways cabin crew serve delicious meals to hundreds of eager passengers at 35,000 feet? Airplane meals have long been a subject of fascination, and there’s much more to them than one might expect.
Let’s dive into how these meals are created.
The Airline Food Industry is Vast
According to a study conducted by Vox, the value of the airline food industry stands at over $6 billion. Breaking down the cost of meals by class, it comes to approximately $4 for an Economy meal, between $25 and $30 for Business Class, and over $100 for First Class.
This points to an obvious fact about flying: people love to eat while in the air. One reason for that is experiencing anxiety during the flight, which is a common phenomenon. A good meal can take the edge off, especially for those who seriously fear flying. These meals relieve flying discomfort and are among the safest you can consume due to the stringent preparations they undergo.
Safety Begins Even Before the Products Make It to the Kitchen
When cooking at home, it’s common for food to go bad or the finished product to taste different. When preparing 20,000 meals daily, the margins are slimmer. To avoid mishaps, airlines have put in place strict protocols. For example, the kitchen staff passes through security and then puts on protective clothing, hair nets, and special footwear to prevent slips. They also use an air shower before entering the production area, which blasts air to remove particles like hair from their clothes.
Airlines also use specialised procurement teams to choose and source ingredients from reliable suppliers. They focus on freshness and quality, which are crucial for air travel. Strict safety and hygiene standards are essential in supplier selection. Even the ingredients are moved through checks before use, including scanning fruits and vegetables with X-ray machines. Once cleared, these items are stored and typically used within one to two days. A separate, expansive storage area houses bulk staples such as Basmati rice, flour, cooking oil, and sugar.
Creating the Perfect Menu
Designing an in-flight menu involves a lot of planning. From starters to desserts, each item is carefully selected to satisfy different passenger tastes and dietary needs. To do that, airlines work with chefs and nutritionists to develop tasty and nutritious menus when flying at high altitudes.
Some airlines even have chefs on board for Business or First Class customers. These chefs prepare fresh meals with specific ingredients on the flight. For example, Turkish Airlines is known for being the first to introduce candlelit dinners in the sky. It employs onboard chefs who enable passengers to customise parts of their meals — a move away from the standard pre-prepared meals in the industry.
The Menu Varies According to Travel Routes
You aren’t daydreaming if you remember having a different meal on the same airline previously. Airlines employ culinary teams to curate their inflight menus. That means they tailor their meals according to passenger tastes, seasons, and routes.
Don’t be surprised the next time you’re on the British Airways reward flight ticket and find a different meal from the previous time. Airlines periodically revise their menus, collaborating with local partners at each destination to prepare local and common dishes for those regions. Due to the need to import specific ingredients such as meat and seafood, the airline must place orders up to eight months ahead.
How is the Food Prepared?
Once the menu has been selected, the next stage involves preparing the meals. There isn’t enough room on an airplane for full cooking facilities, so there aren’t actual kitchens onboard. Instead, catering companies prepare most airplane meals in large kitchens near the airport. Some of the food is kept refrigerated.
A typical food preparation team consists of 350 employees operating efficiently to produce about 4,500 meals daily. Most meal preparation involves partially cooking food. For example, chicken is typically cooked to 60% and steak to 30%. The food is then stored under strictly controlled conditions to maintain quality and freshness until delivered to the plane.
Chefs prepare each dish in large vats and ovens in batches. After cooking, the dishes are placed in a chiller to cool. The food is then moved to a plating room maintained at 8°C, where workers assemble the meals by hand along a conveyor belt. They use a ‘golden sample’ plate as a model to ensure consistency in portion and flavour, with frequent testing and inspections.
Meals are usually served on flights within a day of preparation, although this can vary by airline and catering service. A dedicated hygiene department monitors the chilled items for proper temperature. All food is barcoded to track quality and temperature before storage. Chefs prepare meals about eight hours before a flight, and while hot food can last up to 72 hours, operations typically aim to use them within 43 hours.
Meals are scheduled to reach the aircraft’s catering unit within two hours of departure to ensure they’re as fresh as possible for the flight. Once onboard, the food prepared earlier by the catering services is reheated in convection ovens located in the galley.
Safety Standards for Storing the Meals
In-flight meal safety protocols include storing meals in a specialised refrigerated holding area, almost like a “flight-specific gate lounge.” If a flight is delayed and the meals have already been loaded onto the plane, the procedure often requires discarding the entire batch and ordering a replacement. While this may seem expensive and wasteful, adhering to these safety measures helps prevent potential food poisoning or other food-related problems.
Why Does Food You’ve Had Regularly Taste Different on a Plane?
Your sense of smell and taste diminishes at high altitudes, so airlines like British Airways adjust their menus accordingly. Experts say about 30% of our taste buds become less sensitive at high altitudes. This is why airplane menus are designed to accommodate the dry cabin air, which enhances the flavours of spicy and salty foods. Thus, spicier, more aromatic meals like butter chicken or chicken tikka masala are favourites on flights. Similarly, the taste of wine can also change significantly; some wines that are delightful on the ground might not taste as good in the air.
And it’s not just our taste buds that change. The constant loud noise of the flight engine also impacts taste perception. Recent studies have shown that this background noise can make food seem less sweet and salty, almost as if your ears influence your taste.
What if I Have Special Dietary Requirements?
If you have specific dietary needs, there’s no need to worry. Once your booking is confirmed, you can request a special meal through British Airways’ “Manage My Booking” option. For flights departing from London Heathrow, you can request Kosher meals up to 24 hours before departure. Requests should be made at least 48 hours in advance for all other airports.
Alternative meals for other dietary requirements can also be arranged if requested at least 24 hours before your flight. However, special dietary meals are not available on Euro Traveller. However, you can pre-purchase various snacks and beverages from the High Life Café online before your trip, and the British Airways cabin crew will deliver your order directly to your seat during the flight. You can also bring your meals if you prefer, but this must comply with local security and immigration rules regarding food transport.
Now that you know what goes into preparing your inflight meal, the next time you use your British Airways Avios to travel, take a moment to savour your meal and appreciate the effort that goes into creating it.
