Qantas international Economy Class meals

I have no issue at all with trays, they're used in premium cabins on some of the most highly regarded carriers in the world, and I think the anti-tray argument is pretty silly.

I just think Qantas referring to it as an underplate, seemingly to avoid saying the dirty T word, is ridiculous. It is clearly a tray!
I think the idea is a tray is a completely flat object. My impression is these "underplates" have outlines in them which allows specifically sized items to lay in them. I imagine they are not too practical in general terms for holding lots of random items when a normal tray would be fine.

It could also be an attempt to avoid said word too.... "now in Economy, featuring underplate service..."
I know - but it’s not a proper dessert, even BA has better Y catering for long haul, forget SQ, EK etc
Last I looked at BA it was just one of those puddings in a cup (e.g. chocolate mousse in a plastic cuplet covered in foil). Maybe they have improved to something that Club Europe might get (thanks to switching to Do&Co)... but the only Y desserts I mainly see are cakes, and usually damn dry ones or sporting fake cream. MH, I'm sure you still have thousands upon thousands of those sand dry packaged slices of marbled cake......

Mousses are pretty flawless as a dessert, since it just sits in the cup. On one airline, the dessert was fruit... healthy, but probably not impressive to most.

Ice cream is quite common, though I prefer a nice little tub rather than say a Frosty Fruit or Weiss Bar. I suppose Drumsticks are also OK, because they have good flavours. SQ provided a tub of ice-cream to me last time, but it was pretty solid and needed at least 10 minutes before the mini-spoon was able to make a dent in it.
Agree. I’d prefer a tray in premium cabins if it meant we could get served all the courses at once, then be free to relax or sleep!
You're playing right into the management here!

I think AY notably (but there are others) that serve side salad and cheese plate together with the meal tray, the only item rotating being the current course (entree, main then dessert).

I take it QF don't offer Express meal service any more...
 
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They don’t have any groves - it’s a full flat surface
Well, there goes my only theory as to why it's called an underplate.... that's tray confusing.

I understand an "underplate" in the parlance of a fancy restaurant where there is a plate in place from the start and all courses, in their own dishes, are placed on top of said plate (so, in theory, you never end up using that plate), but that in-place plate tends to be obviously a plate, not a tray or tray look-alike.
 
Because… you’re using the napkin on your lap, tucked in to your t-shirt, or to wipe your fingers?
I found this picture while watching a Youtube video of someone flying LHR/PER recently. There's an extra serviette that you can set the bread down on, amongst other things. (Remember there is a serviette - larger one - in the cutlery pack).

That's how I remember the service going and never had to place the bread directly onto the tray itself, although honestly I think there's very little chance anything would exist on the tray that would kill me. (Yes, I'm well aware that statistically the most unhygienic part of an aircraft is the tray table)

Screenshot 2025-03-06 212033.png

It is not a tray! It’s a bigger underplate. The crew still have to construct it.
Having had a re-read of this, I'm imagining there is a stack of "underplates", of which the crew take one from the stack, place it on top of the trolley, place a main course, a side dish, a piece of bread and a cutlery pack and then hand to customer.

When the meal is collected, the same components on the underplate are thrown in the bins and the underplate is collected in a stack.

When the catering is loaded, the underplates aren't packed like the previous trays would be, with one or a few components already in place on top, so then you would just add a main course and a piece of bread. Similarly, they aren't collected like normal trays would, i.e. slide into a shelved trolley.

Anyway, just guessing...
 

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