Airlines Spiff Up the Food

Feb. 8, 2006 — -- If only airplane dining were like dining at Le Meurice, the multi-Michelin-starred restaurant in the Paris hotel of the same name. Its decor is inspired by the palace at Versailles. Every table is exquisitely set. Crystal stemware sparkles in the light of a single taper.

But the real attention goes to chef Yannick Alleno's cuisine, a mix of traditional and modern. The pan-fried wild sea scallops with celery broth, fresh chestnuts and white truffle are nice, for a mere $168.

Alleno and his staff turn out about 100 dinners every night. And that's where the difference with airline food begins.

Half a world away, in the flight kitchen of Singapore Airlines near Changi Airport, an army of chefs turns out 46,000 meals every day. The flight kitchen uses four-and-a-half tons of chicken every week. One room is devoted just to deveining shrimp. Omelets? Hundreds are turned out every hour by three cooks manning a constantly turning hot table with 10 skillets over which they stuff and fold omelets.

In addition to mass production, there are other significant differences. Airline food must be stored cold and then reheated on the plane, something that can dry out a meal or alter it in other fundamental ways. At 35,000 feet, the air is dry and the airplane cabin pressurized. According to James Boyd at Singapore Airlines, passengers lose 30 percent of their ability to taste in that environment .

There are still other reasons passengers have always complained about the quality of airline food. The main one is that traditionally, it just hasn't been very good or very creative. And now many U.S. airlines have eliminated meals, even in first-class on some domestic flights, as a cost-cutting measure. Most now sell food in economy. And they appreciate exact change.

On flights across the Atlantic and Pacific, U.S. carriers have sought to cut costs in food and wine, even in first and business class.

But now several foreign airlines flying from U.S. cities are trying to fatten their bottom lines not by eliminating food to cut costs but by investing in better food even in economy class as a way to increase profits. There are early signs that it's working.