Business class food shortages and cabin crew helping themselves to the meals.

[Flyboy]

Last Wednesday 6 July my partner flew from Sydney to Auckland on Qantas and he was flying Business Class.

Business Class was not full 11 passenger out of the 12 seats available.

When my partner was asked what he wanted for a meal he asked for the fish, sorry Sir no fish left available, so he asked for the pork. Which is what he received, his description of it turned my stomach and he sent it back after trying it. He described it as a plate full of dried up gristle.

The passenger sitting next to him asked for the chicken sorry Sir there is no chicken left. So he had the pork and sent his back uneaten after he tried it as well.

After the meal trays was cleared away my paterner went to the bathroom and there in the galley was the same steward that had told the passenger next to him that there was no chicken left. But what was she devouring, a Business Class chicken meal, which she had said had run out

Why is Qantas not providing enough meals for passengers in the pointy end of the plan?

Also why are cabin crew denying passengers their choice of meal so that they can eat them themselves?

Food for thought Mr Joyce.

 

[milehighclub]

Before you jump to conclusions - cabin crew get their own meals which are served in the same dish, and can often be the same meal (when J class meals are served in a casserole dish) I'm not saying that they didn't take a passenger meal, but you also can't prove that it wasn't a crew meal.

As for the catering loads - Well it is never going to be right - however you may like to know that every flight the catering is reported, and if there is a continued pattern of the chicken running out, the loads will be adjusted accordingly. But the flight the next day could of run out of the fish, then maybe today the pork.

I understand when paying for a premium cabin it can be frustrating missing out on your meal choice, but no airline loads 100% of every choice as that is wasteful. J gets over catered by about 30%, so it would seem that the chicken was very popular that day but no one could of had it today.

 

[anat0l]

Last Wednesday 6 July my partner flew from Sydney to Auckland on Qantas and he was flying Business Class.

Business Class was not full 11 passenger out of the 12 seats available.

Can you clarify: there are 12 seats in J (assumed 738 aircraft). Was it 11 out of 12 were occupied (i.e. only one spare seat) or 11 out of 12 were empty (i.e. your partner was the only one in the cabin)?

Now assuming that you meant 11 out of 12 seats were occupied (which is not completely full, but that is only one spare seat!)...where was your partner seated in the cabin?

Assuming that meals are always served from the front to the back, from the story, had your partner been sitting in the back of Business, then I suppose it could be possible that one meal could be popular enough to run out by the time you get there. Now mind you running out of two meal choices is quite rare, and I am rather intrigued there.

Now had they been sitting in the front row and your partner was served first and they had "run out of meals", or your partner was the only one in the cabin (i.e. out of 12 seats, only 1 was occupied, i.e. your partner), then there is a real problem and I would be questioning what is going on without hesitation.

Of course, I know at least one forum member who will have no hesitation in bolstering your claim that it was an absolute utter and complete failure in catering.

I'd also make a note of why the pork was so poor quality. You might not get the meal of choice, but the meal you settle with should still be more palatable than the in-flight magazine.

 

[Foreigner]

Can you clarify: there are 12 seats in J (assumed 738 aircraft). Was it 11 out of 12 were occupied (i.e. only one spare seat) or 11 out of 12 were empty (i.e. your partner was the only one in the cabin)?Now assuming that you meant 11 out of 12 seats were occupied (which is not completely full, but that is only one spare seat!)...where was your partner seated in the cabin?Assuming that meals are always served from the front to the back, from the story, had your partner been sitting in the back of Business, then I suppose it could be possible that one meal could be popular enough to run out by the time you get there. Now mind you running out of two meal choices is quite rare, and I am rather intrigued there.Now had they been sitting in the front row and your partner was served first and they had "run out of meals", or your partner was the only one in the cabin (i.e. out of 12 seats, only 1 was occupied, i.e. your partner), then there is a real problem and I would be questioning what is going on without hesitation.Of course, I know at least one forum member who will have no hesitation in bolstering your claim that it was an absolute utter and complete failure in catering.I'd also make a note of why the pork was so poor quality. You might not get the meal of choice, but the meal you settle with should still be more palatable than the in-flight magazine.

OP says there was a passenger next to his partner...so he, the partner, was not alone at the pointy end. 11 of 12 seats occupied.Many airlines print an apology on their menu, in Y class in my experience, for not having passenger's choice of meal, so I agree with others the airline cannot provide everyone with their meal choice.

 

[TheInsider]

Cabin Crew do not have the passenger meals, they have their own catering.
Also even if their were staff in the business cabin, they would get the last choice of meal too.

 

[Foreigner]

Cabin Crew do not have the passenger meals, they have their own catering.Also even if their were staff in the business cabin, they would get the last choice of meal too.

That makes sense. Got me thinking airline woulnt be providing different meals to cabin crew working business class and to those working economy class.

 

[JohnM]

Try flying AA in F or J, folks.

If there are 12 seats in F, there are 12 meals loaded. You get what's available. The crew take on their own McDonald's or similar.

The trick on AA is, as many know, to use FEBO to maximise your meal choice. What is FEBO?: Front-Even; Back-Odd. In other words, make sure you select the front-most seat in F/J on even-numbered flights and the back-most seats on odd-numbered flights.

Believe it or not, you are spoiled on QF.

 

[ric_melb]

From the original post and subsequent responses it appears that choice of meal cannot be guaranteed, nor do crew eat passenger meals.
So the remaining issue is that the pork meal was unsatisfactory. Feedback to Qantas on the quality of the pork would be advised.

 

[drron]

Try flying AA in F or J, folks.

If there are 12 seats in F, there are 12 meals loaded. You get what's available. The crew take on their own McDonald's or similar.

The trick on AA is, as many know, to use FEBO to maximise your meal choice. What is FEBO?: Front-Even; Back-Odd. In other words, make sure you select the front-most seat in F/J on even-numbered flights and the back-most seats on odd-numbered flights.

Believe it or not, you are spoiled on QF.

But this was an International flight so AA catering would not be as stingy.The last time I flew AA J international they had run out of my choice-I was given a similiar F meal instead.So they had spares.
Domestic-well any one here should know of FEBO.

 

[Homer]

...no airline loads 100% of every choice as that is wasteful...

I was told by an EK CSM last year that in F they do actually load every meal choice for every pax so nobody ever misses out. It doesn't help the OP but I just wanted to observe that there is some variation between airlines.

 

[BadgerBoi]

Try flying AA in F or J, folks.

If there are 12 seats in F, there are 12 meals loaded. You get what's available. The crew take on their own McDonald's or similar.

The trick on AA is, as many know, to use FEBO to maximise your meal choice. What is FEBO?: Front-Even; Back-Odd. In other words, make sure you select the front-most seat in F/J on even-numbered flights and the back-most seats on odd-numbered flights.

Believe it or not, you are spoiled on QF.

Not spoiled, no. The AA way of doing things is utter rubbish, just because Qantas doesn't stoop to a ridiculous US way of doing things is just good sense.

 

[simongr]

From the original post and subsequent responses it appears that choice of meal cannot be guaranteed, nor do crew eat passenger meals.
So the remaining issue is that the pork meal was unsatisfactory. Feedback to Qantas on the quality of the pork would be advised.

If it was like the pork I had last night on QF then I agree it was inedible - thai pork that was like chewing a rubber ball. I sent that back and got offered the smoked salmon on udon noodles (gee two asian dishes on an Australian airline menu designed by Neil Perry) that was equally inedible. Very disappointing flight.

 

[JohnM]

But this was an International flight so AA catering would not be as stingy.The last time I flew AA J international they had run out of my choice-I was given a similiar F meal instead.So they had spares.
Domestic-well any one here should know of FEBO.

Agree that most here would know of FEBO but newbies often say that they can't understand the acronyms so I think it doesn't hurt occasionally to spell them out for the benefit of those folks.

 

[UP4014]

If it was like the pork I had last night on QF then I agree it was inedible - thai pork that was like chewing a rubber ball. I sent that back and got offered the smoked salmon on udon noodles (gee two asian dishes on an Australian airline menu designed by Neil Perry) that was equally inedible. Very disappointing flight.

Time to ditch Neil, be nice to just have simple things done well (that goes for any airline meal as I've had some simple meals done badly which is really bad news).

 

[anat0l]

But this was an International flight so AA catering would not be as stingy.The last time I flew AA J international they had run out of my choice-I was given a similiar F meal instead.So they had spares.

There is no higher class than J on this particular flight. They could've offered a Y meal, but you can't do that, can you?

We've had the whole discussion of crew meals being offered to pax and the risks there, so let's not go back to that.......

I was told by an EK CSM last year that in F they do actually load every meal choice for every pax so nobody ever misses out. It doesn't help the OP but I just wanted to observe that there is some variation between airlines.

That's not an apples and apples comparison. F is a whole different story to J, and if EK operated their own 738 I'd like to see them try and do the same thing with a much smaller galley.

I wouldn't be surprised that EK do such a thing anyway. After all, isn't this the carrier that has no qualms flying with onboard showers on their A380s?

Perhaps EK saves a bit of space (not much!) by insisting that crew may have any meal left over from pax catering? Anyone know the EK SOP here?

 

[ozmille]

Only half related but on BA on Saturday from BKK to SYD I was in 62K exit row on the UD and asked for the chicken salad and they said "we only carry 2 of those and they were gone on the first row" I heard at least 3 or 4 other people also asking for the salad (my preferred light dinner for the overnight sector). And the UD was full so to only carry 2 salads is a bit poor.

 

[kevrosmith]

Cabin Crew do not have the passenger meals, they have their own catering.
Also even if their were staff in the business cabin, they would get the last choice of meal too.

Sorry, but you can't tell me that crew don't have J meals. I've often seen the J FA walking down the back of the plane with a tray covered over with a tea-towel after the J and Y dinner meal service is complete: it happened just this Wednesday night again between BNE-CNS. Ok, I can't verify for sure they weren't J meals, but I'd be willing to bet they were. (Is the "staff catering" held in the front or rear galley on 738s?)

And when boarding, or perhaps just after boarding one time recently, I remember over-hearing the CSM say something to the effect "oh, did I get the {something to effect of meal preference} from [name of other FA]?" Yes, I interpreted this as the staff picking between the available J meals: or does the "staff catering" provide menu options for the staff?

And the first time I got a J points-upgrade, and ok I'll admit it was a few years ago, I was keen to try out the J service to its fullest , so asked for a second meal. The FA's reaction was such that you could tell they flinched a bit (which in hindsight I took as "they're our meals, darling") and returned with a Y meal. Soon after, I watched the FA walk down the back with a tray of meals covered with a tea towel. Once again, I'd be happy to put money that they were J meals.

There might be "staff catering", but you can't tell me that this doesn't happen: even if it's not all the time, at least some times.

 

[anat0l]

Sorry, but you can't tell me that crew don't have J meals. I've often seen the J FA walking down the back of the plane with a tray covered over with a tea-towel after the J and Y dinner meal service is complete: it happened just this Wednesday night again between BNE-CNS. Ok, I can't verify for sure they weren't J meals, but I'd be willing to bet they were. (Is the "staff catering" held in the front or rear galley on 738s?)

And when boarding, or perhaps just after boarding one time recently, I remember over-hearing the CSM say something to the effect "oh, did I get the {something to effect of meal preference} from [name of other FA]?" Yes, I interpreted this as the staff picking between the available J meals: or does the "staff catering" provide menu options for the staff?

Staff catering is supplied separate of pax meals and from what we have been told by FAs here, the selection they are afforded is often a superset of the pax menu. For example, a pax may get to choose from a hot chicken meal or a beef salad, whereas the FAs may choose from not only those two but some other dishes. The two sets of catering look identical to one another, i.e. if a FA selects the beef salad which also happens to be one of the selections for pax on a flight, then the appearance would be exactly the same (there would probably be just a label on the foil which says which meal is designated for who).

So it wouldn't be surprising if you saw a tea towel covering what appears to be the same crockery and the same tray and even the same food as that in J, because staff catering is served on the same tableware as J and often the food they can select from is a larger set which includes those choices offered to pax. If you "caught" a FA eating in the galley, your first impressions may be that they are just eating another J meal from a J tray. But the staff meals are catered in pretty much exactly the same style as J pax meals; they are separately filled orders which are not meant to intermingle.

And the first time I got a J points-upgrade, and ok I'll admit it was a few years ago, I was keen to try out the J service to its fullest , so asked for a second meal. The FA's reaction was such that you could tell they flinched a bit (which in hindsight I took as "they're our meals, darling") and returned with a Y meal. Soon after, I watched the FA walk down the back with a tray of meals covered with a tea towel. Once again, I'd be happy to put money that they were J meals.

There might be "staff catering", but you can't tell me that this doesn't happen: even if it's not all the time, at least some times.

I'd probably be a little bit taken aback if you asked for a second meal, especially if you successfully ate up the first one, as it's just not normal, unless you were a rugby player or John Pinette (at least from a few years ago). (Yes, I like to try premium class at its fullest, too, but I only stick to one meal even in F....then after that snacks or light bites if I really want or need it).

Ideally (and I do use this word carefully), if there was staff catering then there should be no reaction interpreted as "they're our meals", because (a) staff catering ensures the FAs will have meals, (b) barring cattiness between FAs, they will get the choice they ordered, and (c) it is probably prohibited to serve a pax a staff meal.

Given that there are only 2 galleys on a 738 (with the aft galley probably bigger than the forward one), but with 12 pax to feed in J compared to over 150 in Y, I wouldn't be surprised if they put all the J and crew meals in the forward galley. Probably makes it easier for the caterers as well since all the meals in the trolley would be the same stock unit essentially.


Now I'm not saying there aren't dishonest FAs and/or CSMs out there who break the rules and, perhaps, "swap out" or "deprive" pax of meals which they can select from in order to satisfy (no pun intended) their own greedy satiety. But I can vouch that it is possible to legitimately miss out on a meal, even in premium class (hopefully never in First Class!), and it's not fair to always accuse the crew of stealing meals, even if it looks to be that way at first sight, because it just may be legitimate that one preference of meal was more popular than the other(s), and, short of wastefully (except perhaps in F) stocking up enough meals to make sure anyone can have anything they want, there is and will always be a risk that someone is going to miss out on their preference.

And yes, I can say that I have been in a situation where I have missed out on my preference of meal, more than once.

 

[milehighclub]

Sorry, but you can't tell me that crew don't have J meals. I've often seen the J FA walking down the back of the plane with a tray covered over with a tea-towel after the J and Y dinner meal service is complete: it happened just this Wednesday night again between BNE-CNS. Ok, I can't verify for sure they weren't J meals, but I'd be willing to bet they were. (Is the "staff catering" held in the front or rear galley on 738s?)

And when boarding, or perhaps just after boarding one time recently, I remember over-hearing the CSM say something to the effect "oh, did I get the {something to effect of meal preference} from [name of other FA]?" Yes, I interpreted this as the staff picking between the available J meals: or does the "staff catering" provide menu options for the staff?

There is a difference between taking a meal before it is served, and eating a leftover meal. So, yes, it probably was a J class meal under the towel, but I bet the service had finished, so no harm in that.

Of course we eat left over meals - all the time, as meals are not always provided either. But it would be fair to say, they are the left overs from the service, not crew putting aside a choice for themselves at the expense of a passenger choice (as I'm sure 99.9% of crew do the right thing) All crew eat leftover meals though - that is common to any airline!

Crew meals are not always just one choice. We can sometimes have up to 4 options.

 

[kevrosmith]

I'm intrigued now... I'm happy to admit that I have made assumptions from my experience and what I've observed, and have interpreted subsequent interactions through filtered-lenses...

I'll have to quiz the FAs next time I'm on board.

And keep in mind, I can only speak of Domestic flights, whereas OP was referring to International sector, so I'd assume differences there as well.