We laugh when passengers complain about plane food – of course it’s awful, here’s why
PASSENGERS always complain about the food on flights and, while I can't say I blame them, I also don't know what they expect.
I've been a flight attendant for the best part of ten years now and I can't remember the last journey I was on without someone at least telling me their meal was bland.
Of course it was - you're on a plane, not in a restaurant.
In this week's blog for Sun Online Travel, I'll tell you why you can't really expect too much from your plane meal and how you can ensure you eat something tasty during the flight.
The meals we serve on board are created in a factory, rather than a kitchen in a swanky eatery.
They're designed to be reheated in our little plane ovens, and not made there and then on the plane, which means the quality is going to suffer somewhat - even in first class.
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We'll put a little more effort into the presentation there and won't serve it in a foil tray like in economy, but it's basically still the safest food we can cook, that is less likely to make people ill, served as hot as possible.
Our main focus is food hygiene and not giving people food poisoning, so taste is very much second on our list of priorities.
Yet, people assume we have a chef firing up a gas hob in the galley and regularly ask us if we can make anything new for them.
We take off with a certain number of meals on board, if you don't like what we have, that's kind of your fault because there are ways of ensuring we'll have something to your liking.
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For instance, once you've booked your flight, you're able to pick a certain food, be it for dietary reasons, allergies, or just for taste.
There's lots of different options you can select and, what's more, specially ordered meals are always brought out first, so not only will you get what you want, you'll also get it first.
However, it's still plane food, so it'll still be the same standard as the other dishes, it'll just be much closer to something you'd be happy to eat outside of the plane.
I always select the Asian vegetarian meal. I'm not a veggie, but it's usually the meal that has the best quality and the best flavour.
For lunches and dinners, it's typically a curry, with some hearty vegetables and chickpeas or something in it, ingredients it's hard to mess up.
However, with meat it's never going to be cooked the way you want it to be and that's usually the part of the meal that people complain about the most.
Even if you're a meat lover, it's honestly best to give it a swerve when you're flying because the veggie meals always taste better in the air.
If you insist on eating meat, or the Asian vegetarian meal doesn't suit your palette, bring your own food with you.
You're perfectly entitled to bring it onto the plane with you and if you're picky it's probably the only way you can guarantee that the food you'll have during the flight will be to your tastes.
You can even buy some stuff at the airport and take it with you onto your plane.
It's going to be an expensive option, but it'll also be a safer one that waiting to see what you get given on the plane, if you're the type of person who complains.
Another great idea is bringing a pot noodle on board - something we're seeing more and more of these days.
Again, you know what it's going to taste like, it's really easy for us because we just have to fill it up with hot water for you, and then you're not going to winge about what we serve you.
Make sure it's one in a cup though and not a packet of noodles because we're not well stocked with spare bowls, despite what people might think.
So next time you're flying, plan ahead and spare us the hassle of having to deal with your complaints. We'll all be much happier that way.
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Meanwhile, this flight attendant explained what your drinks order says about you as a person.
And this is the truth about certain drinks in the cabin.
