United Airlines announced a plan for better meals in business class back in March, branded with Netflix’s Chef’s Table. Now they’re out with the details. This is important because it’s a place where the United Airlines premium product has lagged, and because customers no longer choose only on schedule and price.
Once a flight is on time, satisfaction drivers include wifi, food and beverage, and flight attendant service. Many will pay more for a better experience.
So United is putting Chef’s Table-branded, chef-designed meals into international business class starting August 1, 2026. They’ll have ten city-specific menus featuring 30 dishes on long haul lunch and dinner flights. This will be available via preorder only, 5 days to 24 hours prior to departure.
The initial menu runs August through September, with a new lineup from the same chefs starting in October and rotating into 2027.
| Departing City | Appetizer | Salad | Entrée | ||||||
| Los Angeles | Burrata, braised leeks, mustard vinaigrette, breadcrumbs | Shaved Brussels sprouts, mint, almonds, pecorino Romano | Beef brasato, garlic mashed potatoes, salsa verde, horseradish gremolata | ||||||
| Newark | Chilled tomato soup, jumbo lump crab | Baby gem/endive, berbere pepitas, cranberries, pecorino, anchovy vinaigrette | Ethiopian-coffee glazed short ribs, purple mashed potatoes, carrots, charred scallions | ||||||
| Chicago | Braised leeks, citrus, charred scallion vinaigrette | Arugula, endive, shaved radish | Halibut, sauce matelote, smoked onion, bacon lardons | ||||||
| Houston | Deviled eggs, white soy, aged cheddar, chives | Chicory, spiced bacon, chickpeas, cucumber, onion, oregano mustard vinaigrette | Braised Texas short rib, mushroom ragout, red miso, black-eyed peas | ||||||
| Denver | Shokupan, smoked trout, lemongrass, Chinese celery, trout roe | Kale, cherries, golden beets, grana Padano, honey ginger vinaigrette | Five-spice duck wontons, duck brodo, Swiss chard, chili oil | ||||||
| San Francisco | Hashbrown, pickled relish, cured trout roe | Peach panzanella, sourdough croutons, Vela dry jack, arugula, Napa Cabernet vinaigrette | Black cod in tomato tare, gold rice grits, smoky tomato raisins, peppers, basil | ||||||
| Washington, D.C. | Melon and burrata, chorizo vinaigrette, opal basil | Quinoa, currants, butternut squash, kale, banyuls vinaigrette | Braised chicken breast, vadouvan coconut curry | ||||||
| São Paulo | Collard green roll with shrimp, heart of palm, passion fruit citrus sauce | White bean/celery salad, goat cheese, cheese bread croutons, orange | Brazilian shrimp stew, coconut rice, cashew farofa, okra | ||||||
| London Heathrow | Grilled beef fillet, thyme, beetroots, Caerphilly, mustard | Lobster, grilled peach, tomato, fennel herb | Slow-roasted lamb, smoked potatoes, grilled broccoli, green sauce | ||||||
| Tokyo | Poached scallop, yuzu-ginger glaze, edamame purée | Napa cabbage/mizuna crunch, carrots, sesame, rice wine vinegar | Miso-marinated sea bass, Koshihikari rice, shiitake |
United’s long haul business class meals have not been very good. Oddly, they seem to perform worse in long haul business than for domestic first class.
Their CFO actually laid out a year ago that they believe they’ll generate more revenue by investing more in meals because it helps both (1) brand affinity and experience, and (2) cobrand card acquisition and spend.
Partnering with celebrity chefs does not ensure good food. Years ago, United had a collaboration with Chicago local Charlie Trotter – and flyers used to say those meals ‘gave them the trots.’
However, it’s a signal of quality. You can get a chef to put their name on the meal. Some chefs will sell their names cheaper than others! But it also indicates a strong desire on United’s part to draw attention to those new meals, which they wouldn’t likely do unless they thought those meals were going to be better.
It is silly to draw extra attention to a product that isn’t good. Great marketing actually hurts you when the product is bad, because people come to know it’s bad, while without the marketing fewer people know!
I often hear from flyers that they’d ‘rather see the investment in the meals than in the chef partnership’. After all, it’s not as though the celebrity chef will be in the flight kitchens preparing the food. However, this doesn’t seem correct to me.
- There’s no actual tradeoff between investing in the meals and investing in the partnership.
- Usually spending on those two things increases together
- When the airline wants to invest in its meals, it also wants to highlight the investment, so they make the substantive improvements and spend to market those improvements. (Though customers don’t always feel the food is improved.)
- And these partnerships aren’t necessarily expensive. From the sound of the release, this deal was done with the Netflix series and it’s not clear in which direction marketing dollars flow. Since there are marketing benefits to the show, it may just be that this was done quite inexpensively.
My takeaway is that United wants to highlight its food. That’s a good thing. They already have strong bedding. They have one of the best wine programs. So this is a missing piece of the product they’re trying to solve. I can’t wait to see how this cashes out inflight.
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