British Airways has just published a book called Flavor Of Flight, which chronicles the food and drink served on board its planes from 1919 to the present day.
It begins with a effusive foreword from its CEO, Sean Doyle. “We know that our meals on board define the travel experience and are highly anticipated,” he says. “In fact, customers tell us it’s the part of the trip they look forward to most.”
I’m not so sure about that. Not if you’re sitting in the “back of the bus” on a short-haul flight and are handed a micro bag of corn bites and the world’s smallest bottle of water. And especially if you’ve downloaded the first episode of Rivals, the TV adaptation of Dame Jilly Cooper’s raunchy novel, which features a Concorde flight to New York in the 1980s, with passengers happily smoking, collecting caviar and sipping champagne.
The main character, the handsome Rupert Campbell-Black, leads a young journalist astray in the WC, but never mind the Mile High Club because in those heady days it was the food and service that added a frisson of excitement.
Today? Well, the silver service has been replaced by the reduced service and sadly, BA, our national airline – which once called itself “the world’s favorite airline” – appears to be cutting corners on the porridge front.
British Airways has just published a book called Flavor Of Flight, which chronicles the food and drink served on board its planes since 1919.
Above: the ‘wonderful cocktail lounge on the lower deck of the Boeing Stratocruiser’
We all have our stories. I once found a fly squashed in my egg sandwich on a flight to Thailand (file photo)
It has started swapping lunch for brunch on some of its flights, although it may be well into the afternoon before the sausage and mushroom and hash browns arrive. The Great British Brunch, as it is called, is served in First Class or Club World (BA’s business class cabins) on long-haul flights departing Britain between 8:30 a.m. and 11:29 a.m.
It’s a complicated (and crazy, according to one travel expert) deal, but BA isn’t taking any of the criticism.
“We are incredibly proud of our premium dining experience, which includes a wide range of dining options that suit our customers’ preferences based on the time of day they travel,” the airline states.
Still, cost-cutting is suspected to be partly responsible. After all, Doyle’s predecessor, Alex Cruz, eliminated all free drinks and snacks in economy on short-haul flights in 2017. That move sparked protests and negative headlines about passengers who decided to fly with ABBA (‘Anyone But British Airways’). ‘) challenging the removal of the ancient right to enjoy a cheeky G&T at any time of day.
To his credit, Mr. Doyle brought a small snack and a drink of water for free. However, an experiment to serve free tea and coffee on short-haul flights was scrapped because Cruz, who previously worked at a no-frills airline, had reportedly crammed so many seats onto BA’s short-haul planes that there weren’t enough space in the kitchen to prepare and serve hot drinks.
This could be apocryphal, but it has been reported that one customer was charged double for a cup of tea. When she complained to the cabin crew, they told her: “You ordered strong tea, so we used two bags and charged per bag.”
We all have our stories. I once found a fly squashed into my egg sandwich on a flight to Thailand. “I’m sorry, but I can’t replace it because we’re out of it,” the butler said. When browsing through Flavor Of Flight, it’s no surprise that our taste buds are awakened when we see menus from the 1950s. One of them is beautifully illustrated with a line drawing featuring the Greek mythological character Daedalus and his son Icarus.
Passengers started with cauliflower cream, followed by Cornish lobster salad, then braised beef a la mode with buttered spinach leaves and Parisian potatoes, before moving on to a dessert of cold Montmorency soufflé with fresh cream, then a variety of cheeses with crackers, plus a fruit basket and coffee.
The Great British Brunch, as it is called, is served in First Class or Club World (BA’s business class cabins) on long-haul flights departing Britain between 8.30am and 11.29am (file photo)
The silver service has been replaced by a reduced service and sadly BA, our national airline (which once called itself “the world’s favorite airline”) seems to be cutting corners on the porridge front. (Above: The first-class experience aboard a 1950s comet)
Passengers are served a meal on the C Class seaplane in the 1930s: “possibly roast chicken or York ham.”
Even in the 1980s, those occupying the posh seats on BA’s London to New York service enjoyed chilled sevruga caviar and medallions of lamb loin roasted to perfection and served with a delicate sauce of tomatoes, oil of olive and lemon juice, seasoned with basil. , chervil and cilantro.
Without a doubt, standards have lowered. This is reflected in the sartorial flaws of most modern travelers, but who can blame them for showing up at airports in flip-flops and tank tops when they’re unlikely to be given little more than a granola bar?
It’s a different matter for those who turn left on the fancy new Gulf airlines, like Singapore Airlines or Turkish Airlines. They are investing billions to attract first and business class passengers with luxury food and drink.
Emirates also has an extensive cocktail list, including three different types of martini, something Queen Elizabeth II would have approved of. Apparently, Her Majesty insisted on drinking a gin martini before entertaining guests in Concorde’s royal suite (along with a specific type of mint during takeoff).
Enlisting the services of a famous chef (albeit in name only) has become a popular marketing weapon. Qantas has employed Australia’s acclaimed Neil Perry for more than a decade.
Their specialty is making dishes that wake you up or put you to sleep. On an overnight flight, that means roasted chicken broth with shiitake mushrooms and sugar snap peas because “protein, complex carbohydrates, and dairy generate tryptophan, which produces melatonin, the sleep-inducing hormone,” he says.
Without a doubt, standards have lowered. This is reflected in the sartorial flaws of most modern travelers (file image)
Even in the 1980s, those occupying the posh seats on the BA service from London to New York enjoyed cold sevruga caviar (archive photo)
“As premium guests become increasingly demanding, especially as they pay higher prices to be at the front of the plane, the pressure is on airlines to deliver the best culinary quality in the sky,” says Paul Charles, head of travel PR company The Agencia PC.
This extends to the decorations. BA’s crockery, cutlery and glassware are designed by leading British designers, while Emirates relies on the finest linen tablecloths, Royal Doulton china and Robert Welch cutlery.
So all is not lost. It could simply be that (with or without BA’s Great British Brunch) we are entering a golden age of in-flight dining, at least on some airlines.
The only problem is that the gap between what you get at one end of the plane and the other has never been greater. Still, perhaps that’s preferable to the days when only the wealthy could board a BOAC flight and receive ‘Bolly and Trolley’ service at 39,000 feet.