The Houston Chronicle, umm, chronicles Continental’s push to improve its premium cabin catering. They spoke to me about the efforts, and while I caveated that I’m not a frequent Continental flyer,
Cooking on a plane is complicated. There’s the equipment factor, the flight attendant factor, the 35,000 feet factor. Not all dishes stand up (cf. Taste on a Plane). So extensive testing is a must, investment in physical equipment and not just the food itself is a must, and exensive flight attendant training is a must.
When Asiana had on onboard sushi chef making rolled to order sushi in first class on their Los Angeles route a couple of years ago, that was both a gimmick worth marketing buzz and a real signal of quality. Asiana does some of the best meal preparation in the sky, in my experience (any current complaints about cutbacks not withstanding, I still consider them excellent). That even helps make up for first class seats that while ‘new’ are a generation behind many of their competitors’.
Continental isn’t Asiana. But a decision to invest in soft product is a good step, and a hopeful indication that the world economy may be bringing back premium class travel.
The domestic first class meals could use a little more variation. It feels that through most of 2009 there were three choices: cheeseburger, shrimp salad, some ribs thing (which I never had). Too often I had two or more Continental cheeseburgers in one week. That said, better that than nothing.
2-13-10: CO, MCO to EWR. Menu: salad, cream of mushroom soup, choice of ruben or short ribs. I had the latter. Very nice. Had it been in a local restaurant, I would quite likely order them again another night. Hot meals for all in coach.
1-1-10: US, Costa Rica to CLT. Cold “chef’s” salad. Two croutons, two not-ripe tomato wedges, several cubes of cheese that were dried along the edges, three slices of “steak” (think deli roast beef). Coach meals were at a fee and “we might not have enough for everyone”.
There’s a reason why so many people here list US as the number one airline on the “most likely to fail” list.
Personally, I switched in 03 from US to CO and this recent trip was the end of my accumulated miles on that old US account. Even then, it was only because of their “use-em or lose-em” policy.
As a CLT flyer if I have to connect in IAH I’m usually running from 1 gate to another. That crappy cheeseburger did hit the spot one day since I didn’t have time to buy anything in the airport. I haven’t been able to try the up front meals, but the free food in coach does come in handy sometimes.
To add to excellent meals in the sky, long haul austrian airlines are extremely good. its a shame that their C seat and IFE are very dated, but the on board chef and food is generally fantastic.