Photo: Yuichi Sakuraba/Flickr
There might not be anything more consistently terrible, more chronically underwhelming than the food served on an airplane. Regardless of how hungry you might be, it’s hard to get excited about sad slivers of chicken or limp strands of spaghetti that seem to have arranged themselves into a frown. But United Airlines has recently promised to start offering “restaurant quality” meals on flights, serving roasted duck and flat-iron steaks into the premium cabins on some flights. Meanwhile, economy class passengers can look forward to, um, a refreshed menu of food for purchase.
The entrees currently on United’s Bistro on Board for-purchase menu range from $6.99 for a breakfast of fruit, gruyere cheese and zucchini bread to $9.99 for a Thai Curry Chicken Bowl (still a bargain compared to Icelandair’s $16 chicken curry). But how much do the airlines actually spend on meals for each passenger?
According to Conde Nast Traveler, of the ten largest U.S. airlines who report their culinary expenditures to the Department of Transportation, United spends the 2nd most per passenger, forking out $6.03 per passenger for each cardboard tray of culinary delights (that dollar amount includes all cabins and both domestic and international flights). Some of the other per-person meal expenditures were:
American Airlines, $6.43
United Airlines, $6.03
Delta Air Lines, $5.36
Virgin America, $3.73
JetBlue, $1.39
The average for the ten largest domestic airlines was $3.61 per passenger, a number that was brought down by the fact that Spirit, Southwest and Allegiant don’t serve meals during their flights.
According to the DOT statistics, air travelers had it so much better in the past. And so much worse. In 2001, American and United spent an average of $8 per person, but airlines’ food expenditures have dropped more than 25% since then. The low point was 2007, when the average spend was $3.30 per flier.
Some scientists think that the inescapable noise of airline cabins contributes to the awfulness of their entrees. But the price tag — especially when you consider what passengers are paying — doesn’t always help. Enjoy the duck!