AIRLINE CATERING

The provision of food and drink on aeroplanes in very different from other forms of catering for a variety of reasons : 1) The customer purchases the flight and in effect receives the meal as part of an allinclusive package. 2) Little or no food production takes place on the aircraft. 3) Meals are served in surroundings that are designed for the purposes of air travel rather that for eating in. 4) The catering staff (stewards) have many other functions apart from that of food service. 5) The circumstances of flight may deter people from eating either because of travel sickness or the effects of jet lag. 6) Food served must reflect the wide range of ethnic, religious and cultural attitudes among passengers on international flights.

Flight catering operation: At the outset, the management will have a programme of the days and times when meals will be required, together with the type of aircraft to be served and the class of meal to be provided, which may range from sandwiches to a first-class eight-course meal. With this plan available, the supplies of perishable foods and dry stores, all the cutlery, crockery, china, glassware, napkins, condiments, trays and cabinets will be assembled in the kitchen. It will when be the job of the chef and staff to prepare the number and classes of meals required for each day and night at the specified times. This will involve several different types of meals for separate flights and types of aircraft, all departing at various times and all probably requiring the use of their own special design of equipment such as storage cabinets and flasks. To

achieve this diversity in operation, it is necessary to prepare some meals well beforehand and to preserve them as fresh as possible in a chilling room until they are required. Some hot meals will be prepared, cooked and dispatched for immediate use and others will be deep frozen for subsequent reheating on flights. As the departure flight draws near, the correct number and types of meals are assembled together in the appropriate cabinets, together with all the necessary equipment which are placed on the trolley and retained in a cold room, until it is

transported to the aircraft in a Hi-loader vehicle. When the vehicle returns to the flight kitchen from the aircraft, it will return with the cabinets, trays and all the remains of the meals which were served to the passengers on the previous incoming flight. The refuse is removed for disposal and partially consumed food is, whenever possible incinerated, whilst the indisposable equipment is retrieved and subjected to a cleaning and sterilizing process before it is set aside for use on subsequent flights. Most aircrafts have two galleys, one forward and the other behind and some have a middle galley too. Depending on the length of the flight, the passenger will be served with a snack meal or main meal by the cabin crew, who work together in pairs serving the meals on trays from a trolley. The aircraft type determines in which order the passengers are served, but generally service begins in the middle and works back towards the galleys. The cabin crew, consisting of a purser or chief steward and stewards, are given very intensive training and instruction on service techniques and the airlines place great emphasis in the excellence of their in- flight service. Despite the problems created by providing a choice of meals, the business is so competitive that many airlines have re- introduced a choice, particularly on their first- class flights. This requires careful market control in- flight by the stewards to ensure that passengers can have what they wish. Where passengers have special dietary needs, such as vegetarians, infants or invalids, these too will be catered for, although the airline would hope to be notified in advance of such requirements. Flight catering can be provided in a variety of ways, but really there are two alternative: airlines operating their own in- flight needs, or flight- catering specialists providing services for the airlines on a contract business. From the purely catering viewpoint, most operators would agree that food prepared in one or two major locations on a large scale is the most economic way to provide in-flight meals.

Storage on-board: The storage and Stowage of both consumable and non-consumable items is a problem for flight caterers for a variety of reasons:

1) Stowage and galley areas are specifically located in stressed areas of the aircraft and the playload weight of each lockr or space is designated precisely and cannot be exceeded. Thus an aircraft will always carry a full set of equipment with dummy units, if the passenger pay load is below capacity to maintain the aircraft s playload. 2) Storage must take account of the aircraft s angle of ascent and acceleration. 3) All aircraft types are different and the galley equipment may be installed by different manufacturers: everything loaded on board must be compatible with that on the aircraft. 4) To minimize the weight of equipment, all items are manufactured in weight of equipment, especially plastics, to specific design criteria that facilitate stowage. For instance, the airlines would prefer to serve all their alcoholic beverages in ring- cans, since unlike bottles in glass or plastic, such cans are stackable, light weight and unbreakable.

Staffing: The number of cabin crew depends upon the: Type of aircraft. Configuration of the flight and time of take-off. Passenger density. On- board equipment. A large aircraft, such as the 747 be as follows:

Cabin service officer

Purser (first class) _____________________ 2crew (upper light deck) 2crew (lower light deck)

Purser (tourist) _____________________ 4Bar staff 3Crew

Smaller aircraft have correspondingly lower level of staff, and may have a purser in charge rather than cabin service officer.

In

flight food service:

Every airline in planning its routes determines the level of catering for each flights. British Airway for instance, has a catering schedule for every one of its flights. Such schedules lay down what type of refreshment will be provided within the broad frame work of police for the standards of service for different groups of passengers. We shall see, first- class passengers receive a higher level of service and greater choice than other travelers. Whatever the service, whether it is main meal, light refreshment or just drink, the service routine is determined by the type of aircraft. Generally speaking, on narrow bodied aircraft meal trays are hand run that is to say the crew take trays to the passenger by hand from the galleys. On larger aircraft the trays are taken to the passengers on trolleys, Holding up to 32 trays. If a hot meal is to be served it is loaded into the convector oven on the ground. Once the aircraft has taken off, the hot- food dish is reheated for 20 to 35 mins, depending on the dish. The hot items are then placed on the passenger s tray.

In this way efficient cabin crew can serve all 400 passengers of a 747 with pre- dinner drinks, a meal and coffee. Railway catering: The traveling public has always had a significant, impact upon the structure of the hotel and industry, as we have seen, and transport catering has developed simultaneously with the advancement of transport systems. The first public dining car service on British railways was from leeds to london in 1879. Operational features of rail catering: Staffing: The essential problem is once members of staff are on a train they to make a round tip in order to return to