U.S. Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon took to twitter to complain about a $25.60 for a cold refrigerated turkey sandwich at the Burbank Airport. Responses mostly fall along the lines of:
- airport prices are insane
- this is because of California or Gavin Newsom
- she should complain to Trump.
The price is absurd, but coming from the assistant attorney general for civil rights it’s primed for a political response, and also tone deaf as a civil rights issue and seems to speak to priorities. Still, it sent me down a rabbit hole to learn more about this sandwich.
Someone just tried to charge me $25.60 for a cold, refrigerated turkey sandwich at Burbank Airport. Have people no shame?! Luckily I had tangerines and trail mix in my bag. I’ll survive …
— Harmeet K. Dhillon (@HarmeetKDhillon) May 20, 2026
Airports often have ‘street pricing’ rules where food and retail items aren’t supposed to cost much more than they would outside the airport. That usually means 10% – 20% more than some benchmark. However,
- It’s rare that the airport defines which street – vendors can scour for the most expensive comparable.
- And the rules are often ignored by airports. The rules get set because airports in the U.S. are mostly government owned and passengers are voters who hate the high prices.
- But vendors have to make money, and airports are very expensive to operate at. They charge some of the highest rents. It’s expensive to attract workers who will travel to the airport, park in off-property lots, and who can pass required security checks.
At the Burbank Airport I found street pricing rules for the new Replacement Passenger Terminal concession program. Prices have to be either at the approved Street Price Benchmark or no more than the Street Price Benchmark + 15%. The benchmark has to be approved by the Airport Authority before opening and is supposed to be based on same or substantially similar goods in Burbank, Glendale, and Pasadena, with periodic reviews.
I haven’t found the rule for the existing terminal, and the new one isn’t expected to open until October. In that current terminal, the two concessionares are:
- Food and beverage: Metropolitan Culinary Services which has held the contract for more than three decades.
- Retail, news and gifts: Hudson News & Gifts
The new replacement terminal food award went to incumbent Metropolitan Culinary Services, while retail went to WHSmith replacing Hudson. Vendor SSP America filed an FAA Part 16 complaint alleging the airport authority ignored scoring and used impermissible local affiliation when selecting Metropolitan Culinary Services.
I can’t be certain what this $25 sandwich was. It seems most likely to be from a Metropolitan Culinary Services grab ‘n go. There are “Sandwiches and Salads” locations in Terminal A near Gates A1 and A7 and Terminal B near B3, including Guy’s Sammich Joint and Perry’s Joint Sandwiches. A cold turkey sandwich seems more like a grab-and-go than a made-to-order restaurant sandwich.
It’s possible the sandwich was from a Hudson News near the main entrance, Terminal A, or Terminal B. But that seems far less likely.
However, posted menus do not show a $25.60 turkey sandwich. ‘The Lunch Box’ shows turkey items $17.95 – $19.50, including “Smoked Turkey, Brie & Apple” at $19.50. Let’s assume the $25.60 price includes tax.
- Burbank’s combined sales tax rate is 10.5%.
- That would mean the pre-tax price would be $23.17.
- Under a 15% street-pricing cap, that would require a benchmark of $20.15.
But I’m not sure if we can include sales tax, it depends where the sandwich was purchased, because California exempts cold food to go from some locations (the determinant is whether the food it is sold for consumption with tables, chairs, and tableware).
$25.60 is an expensive sandwich. It would probably be noncompliant with street pricing rules. But maybe it doesn’t exist? Or maybe Dhillon included a tip?
The tweet has some David Brooks 2023 vibes. The columnist posted about a $78 meal at Newark Airport, with a burger, fries and whiskey. But food was not the main driver of the bill – the bar tab was 80% of the total.
This meal just cost me $78 at Newark Airport. This is why Americans think the economy is terrible. pic.twitter.com/1qeV9qOBL3
— David Brooks (@DavidBrooks224) September 21, 2023
Interestingly, I found Pappy Van Winkle 20-year listed at $240 at Burbank Airport’s Guy’s Highball Lounge and at Lunch Box. So the airport is certainly capable of producing a Brooks-style airport price shock.
Hey, Gary… No comment on #47 using the pretext of a 1996 plane crash to go after Cuba? I mean, I’m no fan of Castro, but, if we’re gonna start settling scores over plane crashes, let’s do Putin. I’d say he’s liable for at least MH17 (2014) and probably the Smolensk air disaster (2010)… Any Dutch or Poles wanna back me up here? @Walter Barry, you wanna defend your buddy in the Kremlin?
no one forced him to eat that sandwich and paid for it. that’s why people prefer to go to the lounges.
@Don G – You nailed it. High airport concession prices are a significant factor in the ridiculous queues to get into the increasingly subpar U.S. lounges.
It’s Burbank so no lounges. That’s about what I’ve paid at airports where I’m hungry, there’s no lounge and there’s no inflight meal in first. I have no idea why this imbecile would think other airports are cheaper than this. One could simply eat before they go to the airport, if not a quick snack to tie them over.
“David Brooks 2023 vibes” … Ah, yes… following Brooks’ viral post, the actual restaurant he ate at (1911 Smokehouse BBQ) looked up his receipt and publicly revealed that his food only cost about $17… the other 80% of the bill was his bar tab from ordering multiple shots of high-end whiskey. Classic out-of-touch faux-conservative elite pundit complaining about a broad issue while hiding the fact that his own expensive or luxury tastes are the actual culprit. (That said, I do still like his segments along side other columnists on the PBS Newshour… Shields and Brooks, Brooks and Capehart, and occasional guests like Ruth Marcus.)
@ 1990 — The Idiot knows no end. Let him proceed with his next quagmire. His approval rating drops every week. It’ll be about 25% by November. Surely, even he and his fellow crooks can’t overcome that deficit.