nosh nook #70 - friday, june 19, 2009

the worst airline food (link)
06.18.09 - chicago tribune - by phil vettel

a few years back, mostly during that pre-9/11 era, i used to fly all the time, as i travelled around the country for both work & play. i'm no longer a travelling salesman, so i no longer travel for work nor do i make the kind of scratch that allows me to travel as often for play. as a result, i've been sort of sheltered from all the craziness that the airlines have been experiencing over the last few years, most notably the addition of baggage fees & the subtraction of free in-flight meals.

as far as those in-flight meals go, phil vettel, a food critic for chicago tribune, well...he just ain't having em. as he notes, according to a survey from seatguru.com (not "duh! magazine"), if you want to get a good in-flight meal, you've got to go with international carriers--singapore airlines & air france--who have the best quality. the worst quality in-flight meals come from american airlines, united & us airways. since vettel's a food critic, i respect his opinion when he says, "your dog gets better snacks at a sidewalk-cafe brunch in chicago than you can expect flying economy on most u.s. carriers." oh snap! you just got served, u.s. air carriers!...except for continental. they're the only u.s. carrier included among the airlines with the best food.

i'll be flying united in july for the first time in as long as i can remember (not that i can even remember what i had for breakfast on monday, but still), so i'm looking forward to experiencing first hand just how crappy their in-flight food is, although it's only a three hour flight, so there's a good chance there won't even be an in-flight meal. lucky for me, the survey also honors united as one of the u.s. carriers that has "the least comfortable economy-class seats and the rudest flight attendants."  since that's the case, i probably won't even miss the in-flight meal, as i'll be too occupied with shifting in my seat every five minutes & trying to avoid getting yelled at by the flight attendants...friendly skies indeed.