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Bringing food on board the plane



 
 
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  #1  
Old July 1st, 2005, 10:03 AM
Earl Evleth
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default Bringing food on board the plane

Basically the food service "system" has gone into
chaotic mode, completely balkanized. International
flights are still more or less OK but the passengers
have to otherwise go completely into a defense mode.

If "they" wont feed us, we feed ourselves.

Marinated herring anyone?? Long live things garlicky.

The cabin attendants are now garbage collectors.

****



Airplane food: Winging it at Sea-Tac

By Stuart Eskenazi
Seattle Times staff reporter

Air travelers hungering to eat while flying this summer will find that
in-flight meals are worth little more than peanuts these days.

Thankfully, airports are responding to the famine by offering a feast of
grab-and-go food options that are tastier, healthier and, in some cases,
smellier than anything a flight attendant ever has served on a plastic tray.

At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's new Pacific Marketplace food
court, for example, Dish D'Lish's neatly packed Northwest salad is a vast
improvement over the wilted lettuce and unripe tomato wedge that used to
pass for a garden variety salad on airlines. But the Northwest salad's
crumbled blue cheese is, as it should be, rather ripe.

Want bread with your salad? Well, Dish D'Lish's olive tapenade makes a
superior spread to the pat of margarine typically included as part of
in-flight meals. But the tapenade's flavor ‹ and smell ‹ is enhanced with
garlic.

The trend away from in-flight meals and toward grab-and-go food is nothing
to sniff at. Then again, maybe it is. One thing is inarguable: The new order
of eating on planes is creating a new order of passenger etiquette.

"I don't particularly like it when people carry their food on the flight,"
said Travis Myers, who was passing through Sea-Tac last month on his way
home to Houston. "I don't want to share my food aromas with everyone else ‹
and vice versa."

Fortunately, Sea-Tac is not Safeco Field. Garlic fries are not served within
10 miles of the airport. But if watching someone eat eel makes you squirm,
then better not look beside you because your seatmate might have brought on
board some sushi rolls from Maki of Japan, another of Pacific Marketplace's
eateries.

"As passengers, we need to be considerate of other people in terms of smelly
food," said Wendy Stafford, a former flight attendant and president of
Orlando-based Airline Inflight Resources, which trains prospective flight
attendants.

Rather take your own food?

Try these sandwich recipes tested by Seattle Times home economist CeCe
Sullivan:

Bagels with Smoked Salmon and Dill Cream Cheese

Focaccia with Capicollo Ham, Smoked Provolone and Green Olives

Ciabatta with Salami, Artichokes and Fresh Rosemary

Although travelers are more prone to bring cold foods than hot foods onto a
flight, Pacific Marketplace does offer malodorous greasy options of Wendy's
burgers ("Can I have extra onions with that?") and Ivar's fish, which tends
to smell like, well, fish.

"I don't mind the smell of fish because I like fish," Stafford said. "But I
do realize that other people don't."

As a way to cut costs, domestic airlines steadily have been pulling back on
the frills of food service, offering only meager snacks (pre-packaged nuts,
crackers and cookies) and beverages on board. While some continue to serve
tray meals on transcontinental and long-haul flights, others have ended the
complimentary service altogether for coach-class passengers. A few airlines
are selling sandwiches or other basic fare to passengers with growling
stomachs.

The best advice for travelers is to know before they go whether a meal is
being offered on the plane, and then plan accordingly. Passengers are
advised to bring food from home to eat on board or, if possible, eat at the
airport before boarding.

One benefit of having to arrive at the airport early in order to pass
through security is that it sometimes gives passengers time to sit down for
a meal before their flight. The practice of passengers eating in the
terminal not only is a blessing for those sensitive to smells wafting
through a claustrophobic airplane, it's also more healthful.

Diana Fairechild, a former flight attendant and author of books about the
comforts of flying, "Jet Smarter: The Air Traveler's RX" and "Strategies for
the Wise Passenger," suggests travelers eat before they board the plane
because altitude impairs the body's ability to digest.

"In the past, we had a mindset that eating on the plane was something we had
to do to while away the time," said Fairechild, of Kauai, Hawaii. "Even if
we weren't hungry, we'd mindlessly eat because the people next to us were
eating. I don't think we should look at the loss of meal service on planes
as something we are being deprived of or something that we are going to
miss. We should think of it as a lucky thing because people will be
healthier."

But air travelers need to fly smart, too.

"I worry about the inexperienced travelers, the elderly or people with kids,
who don't realize they aren't going to get fed on the plane," said Mindy
McCabe, of La Conner, snacking on a sandwich and sipping on a soda while
awaiting a flight out of Sea-Tac to her second home in Ontario, Calif. "I
was on one flight recently where some kids were cranky because they were
hungry so the parent asked the flight attendant for extra snacks and was
told, 'You should have thought of that before you boarded.' I couldn't
believe it!"

For every story about flight attendants holding back on the goodies, there
are at least as many about flight attendants being more generous with what
little they have to offer.

"When I order orange juice now, I get the full can along with the plastic
cup," Myers said. "They'll toss you three bags of peanuts instead of just
one or two."

That also means extra cans and bags for a flight attendant to pick up ‹ not
to mention the burger sack, the salad container, the sushi tray and the
pizza box.

"What you'll notice on Alaska Airlines is our flight attendants making two
or three times more passes through the aisle with a heavy garbage sack in
response to people bringing more of their own food on the plane," said Sam
Sperry, director of corporate communications. "We want to keep the airplane
as clean as possible during flight."

Bringing food on board raises several new challenges for keeping planes
clean. Qdoba Mexican Grill, also in Pacific Marketplace, offers burritos
that are both good and messy ‹ and when a burrito squirts, what comes out
has to land somewhere.

"If someone leaves a huge mess, just remember that somebody else, usually a
flight attendant, has to clean it up later," Stafford said.


  #2  
Old July 2nd, 2005, 09:36 PM
Runge
external usenet poster
 
Posts: n/a
Default

Stupid ass, you thought you were on rec.travel.air, didn't you?
Ooops I gave him the address, now he'll be flooding that group with european
travel topics !
Silly me


"Earl Evleth" a écrit dans le message de news:
...
Basically the food service "system" has gone into
chaotic mode, completely balkanized. International
flights are still more or less OK but the passengers
have to otherwise go completely into a defense mode.

If "they" wont feed us, we feed ourselves.

Marinated herring anyone?? Long live things garlicky.

The cabin attendants are now garbage collectors.

****



Airplane food: Winging it at Sea-Tac

By Stuart Eskenazi
Seattle Times staff reporter

Air travelers hungering to eat while flying this summer will find that
in-flight meals are worth little more than peanuts these days.

Thankfully, airports are responding to the famine by offering a feast of
grab-and-go food options that are tastier, healthier and, in some cases,
smellier than anything a flight attendant ever has served on a plastic
tray.

At Seattle-Tacoma International Airport's new Pacific Marketplace food
court, for example, Dish D'Lish's neatly packed Northwest salad is a vast
improvement over the wilted lettuce and unripe tomato wedge that used to
pass for a garden variety salad on airlines. But the Northwest salad's
crumbled blue cheese is, as it should be, rather ripe.

Want bread with your salad? Well, Dish D'Lish's olive tapenade makes a
superior spread to the pat of margarine typically included as part of
in-flight meals. But the tapenade's flavor and smell is enhanced with
garlic.

The trend away from in-flight meals and toward grab-and-go food is nothing
to sniff at. Then again, maybe it is. One thing is inarguable: The new
order
of eating on planes is creating a new order of passenger etiquette.

"I don't particularly like it when people carry their food on the flight,"
said Travis Myers, who was passing through Sea-Tac last month on his way
home to Houston. "I don't want to share my food aromas with everyone else

and vice versa."

Fortunately, Sea-Tac is not Safeco Field. Garlic fries are not served
within
10 miles of the airport. But if watching someone eat eel makes you squirm,
then better not look beside you because your seatmate might have brought
on
board some sushi rolls from Maki of Japan, another of Pacific
Marketplace's
eateries.

"As passengers, we need to be considerate of other people in terms of
smelly
food," said Wendy Stafford, a former flight attendant and president of
Orlando-based Airline Inflight Resources, which trains prospective flight
attendants.

Rather take your own food?

Try these sandwich recipes tested by Seattle Times home economist CeCe
Sullivan:

Bagels with Smoked Salmon and Dill Cream Cheese

Focaccia with Capicollo Ham, Smoked Provolone and Green Olives

Ciabatta with Salami, Artichokes and Fresh Rosemary

Although travelers are more prone to bring cold foods than hot foods onto
a
flight, Pacific Marketplace does offer malodorous greasy options of
Wendy's
burgers ("Can I have extra onions with that?") and Ivar's fish, which
tends
to smell like, well, fish.

"I don't mind the smell of fish because I like fish," Stafford said. "But
I
do realize that other people don't."

As a way to cut costs, domestic airlines steadily have been pulling back
on
the frills of food service, offering only meager snacks (pre-packaged
nuts,
crackers and cookies) and beverages on board. While some continue to serve
tray meals on transcontinental and long-haul flights, others have ended
the
complimentary service altogether for coach-class passengers. A few
airlines
are selling sandwiches or other basic fare to passengers with growling
stomachs.

The best advice for travelers is to know before they go whether a meal is
being offered on the plane, and then plan accordingly. Passengers are
advised to bring food from home to eat on board or, if possible, eat at
the
airport before boarding.

One benefit of having to arrive at the airport early in order to pass
through security is that it sometimes gives passengers time to sit down
for
a meal before their flight. The practice of passengers eating in the
terminal not only is a blessing for those sensitive to smells wafting
through a claustrophobic airplane, it's also more healthful.

Diana Fairechild, a former flight attendant and author of books about the
comforts of flying, "Jet Smarter: The Air Traveler's RX" and "Strategies
for
the Wise Passenger," suggests travelers eat before they board the plane
because altitude impairs the body's ability to digest.

"In the past, we had a mindset that eating on the plane was something we
had
to do to while away the time," said Fairechild, of Kauai, Hawaii. "Even if
we weren't hungry, we'd mindlessly eat because the people next to us were
eating. I don't think we should look at the loss of meal service on planes
as something we are being deprived of or something that we are going to
miss. We should think of it as a lucky thing because people will be
healthier."

But air travelers need to fly smart, too.

"I worry about the inexperienced travelers, the elderly or people with
kids,
who don't realize they aren't going to get fed on the plane," said Mindy
McCabe, of La Conner, snacking on a sandwich and sipping on a soda while
awaiting a flight out of Sea-Tac to her second home in Ontario, Calif. "I
was on one flight recently where some kids were cranky because they were
hungry so the parent asked the flight attendant for extra snacks and was
told, 'You should have thought of that before you boarded.' I couldn't
believe it!"

For every story about flight attendants holding back on the goodies, there
are at least as many about flight attendants being more generous with what
little they have to offer.

"When I order orange juice now, I get the full can along with the plastic
cup," Myers said. "They'll toss you three bags of peanuts instead of just
one or two."

That also means extra cans and bags for a flight attendant to pick up
not
to mention the burger sack, the salad container, the sushi tray and the
pizza box.

"What you'll notice on Alaska Airlines is our flight attendants making two
or three times more passes through the aisle with a heavy garbage sack in
response to people bringing more of their own food on the plane," said Sam
Sperry, director of corporate communications. "We want to keep the
airplane
as clean as possible during flight."

Bringing food on board raises several new challenges for keeping planes
clean. Qdoba Mexican Grill, also in Pacific Marketplace, offers burritos
that are both good and messy and when a burrito squirts, what comes out
has to land somewhere.

"If someone leaves a huge mess, just remember that somebody else, usually
a
flight attendant, has to clean it up later," Stafford said.




 




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