Learning Objectives

• Provide a brief overview of flight catering

• Identify the periods of crucial development concerning the industry

• Understand the implications of the historical development of on-board food service

• Identify the key trends in the airline industry

Introduction

It is possible to dine in five-star luxury while travelling at 600 miles per hour, six miles above the surface of the earth. To the average person, now used to air travel, this may not seem remarkable. But the average person is unaware that there may be over 40,000 separate items loaded onto a Boeing 747 (popularly known as the jumbo jet). This load occupies 60 m ² and weighs six tonnes and the loading time may be less than 50 minutes. In view of this, some might say that it is not just remarkable that air travellers may dine so well; it is remarkable that they can do so at all.

This chapter provides an overview of how in-flight meal service has developed worldwide to make on-board dining as it is today. There have been four stages of development which have had a significant impact on how in-flight catering functions and operates.

Pioneer Years of in-flight Foodservice

On 17 December 1903, Orville Wright made the world's first powered flight in a heavier-than-air machine, near Kitty Hawk, North Carolina (Franklin, 1980). The flight lasted 47 seconds and covered 2000 feet. As far as we know, there was no food or drink on board this historic flight. However, it was not long...