Food for thought

Sep 6 2005 By Helen Logan, Evening Gazette

The question has been posed recently "Why bother with airline food?"

And I could not agree more with that sentiment.

I have always thought that - even on long-haul flights - full-blown hot meals should be scrapped.

For most of the time they are of dire quality.

Breakfasts featuring rubbery scrambled egg, dinners with meat which would be hard to identify if it did not say what it was on the container, or stuck together clumps of soggy pasta or rice.

These culinary "delights" are what spring to mind when I think of eating while flying away on holiday.

The focus on in-flight catering has come on the back of the industrial strife at Gate Gourmet which is a supplier to BA.

This left BA planes not able to provide three-course cooked meals and, instead, deli bags containing a sandwich and a cold dessert were handed out.

That would suit me just fine.

For years, every time I have filled in an airline customer satisfaction form I have made sure I added the comment that hot meals should be jettisoned and replaced with a sandwich, and a bag of crisps.

But my mini campaign - up to now - has fallen on deaf ears.

Also in connection with the Gate Gourmet debacle it emerged how much the meals were.

And the prices came as quite a surprise.

Apparently each First Class meal costs BA £25, Club Class £15 and even Economy comes in at £8.

Am I alone in thinking the deli bag development is a distinct improvement and should become a permanent fixture?