95. Airplane Food

Summary

Summary of Episode 95: Airplane Food
The Economics of Everyday Things
Hosted by Freakonomics Network & Zachary Crockett
Release Date: June 9, 2025

---

Introduction

In Episode 95 of The Economics of Everyday Things, host Zachary Crockett delves into the seemingly mundane yet surprisingly complex world of airplane food. Through conversations with industry experts and historical insights, the episode uncovers the intricate economics, logistical challenges, and evolving standards that shape what passengers eat at 35,000 feet.

The Evolution of Airplane Food

Historical Perspective

Zachary Crockett begins by tracing the origins of in-flight meals:

• Early Days (1920s-1930s):
  "Early commercial airplanes couldn't handle much extra weight, so meals were simple cold sandwiches and fruit, often served during refueling stops." (03:05)

• Post-World War II Golden Age:
  Guillaume de Sion, a history professor, explains, "After WWII, commercial flights became longer, like transatlantic routes, and food was used as a form of entertainment to enhance the passenger experience." (04:04)

Golden Age of Airline Cuisine

During this period, airline food was positioned as a luxury:

• Opulent Offerings:
  "We had roast beef, lobster tails, French pastries, and even six-course meals on Concorde jets, complete with fine china and white tablecloths." – Guillaume de Sion (05:03)

Economic Shifts and Cost-Cutting Measures

Deregulation Impact (1978 Onwards)

The deregulation of the airline industry marked a turning point:

• Focus on Low Fares Over Amenities:
  "After deregulation, airlines prioritized low ticket prices, leading to significant cost-cutting, especially in in-flight services like meals." (05:43)

• Examples of Cost-Cutting:
  Robert Crandall, former CEO of American Airlines, famously removed one olive from every salad, saving the airline $40,000 annually. As de Sion notes, "This was the beginning of a worldwide economic slowdown in the quality of airline food." (07:00)

Modern Airline Catering: Logistics and Scale

Outsourcing and Mass Production

Today's airline meals are typically outsourced to large catering companies:

• Gate Gourmet's Role:
  Chris Kinsella, Chief Commercial Officer for North America at Gate Group, explains, "We serve around 650 million passengers on more than 3.8 million flights every year, operating in 200+ locations across 60 countries." (07:57)

• Contractual Relationships:
  Catering companies like Gate Gourmet secure multi-year contracts with major airlines, managing everything from recipe design to meal transportation.

Cost Management

Managing costs is critical in airline catering:

• Pennies Add Up:
  "At our scale, even minor cost adjustments can lead to significant savings," says Kinsella (09:19).

Challenges in Serving Food at Altitude

Environmental Factors

Preparing and serving food in an airplane presents unique challenges:

• Taste Sensitivity:
  The dry air and reduced air pressure at high altitudes can dull taste buds by up to 30% for salty foods. Molly Brandt, Innovation Chef for North America at Gate Group, counters this by focusing on balanced flavors without simply adding more salt. "I incorporate acid, sweetness, spice, and umami to enhance flavor naturally." (14:28)

• Temperature Constraints:
  "Meals are fully cooked, chilled, and then reheated on the plane, which limits the types of dishes that can maintain quality." – Brandt (15:55)

Production and Logistics

Scaling up meal production involves complex logistics:

• Preparation Process:
  "We receive flight schedules weeks in advance, prepare and label meals accordingly, and transport them to airplanes via specialized trucks." (17:35)

• Ensuring Safety:
  Maintaining strict hygiene standards is paramount to prevent foodborne illnesses. Despite rigorous protocols, incidents like the 2004 Honolulu carrot contamination highlight ongoing risks. Kinsella emphasizes, "Safety is top of mind, especially during flight delays where retrieving loaded food is challenging." (19:09)

Current Trends and Passenger Experience

Premium vs. Economy Offerings

There is a stark contrast between meals served in premium cabins and economy:

• Premium Cabins:
  Business and first-class passengers enjoy more elaborate and higher-quality meals, reflecting their higher ticket prices. "There's a real focus on those premium cabins, allowing for better offerings even in economy on longer international flights," explains Kinsella (21:44).

• Economy Class:
  Most economy passengers now receive limited or no complimentary hot meals, often settling for snacks like pretzels or cookies. De Sion remarks, "We get what we pay for. I'm happy with my cheap ticket, even if the food isn't appetizing." (22:38)

Innovation in Meal Preparation

Chef Brandt discusses alternative methods to enhance flavor without increasing salt:

• Use of Umami and Natural Enhancers:
  "Incorporating umami and ingredients like mushrooms and shio koji helps create more flavorful dishes naturally." (15:01)

• Collaborations with Frozen Food Industry:
  "We draw inspiration from frozen food companies to overcome challenges related to reheating and maintaining texture." (16:15)

Conclusion

Airplane food has evolved from simple sandwiches to a complex industry balancing cost, quality, and logistical constraints. While premium cabins offer a step back into the golden age of in-flight dining, economy passengers often face limited options. Innovations in flavor enhancement and meal preparation continue to push the boundaries, striving to improve the passenger experience despite the inherent challenges of high-altitude dining.

---

Notable Quotes

• "After deregulation, airlines prioritized low ticket prices, leading to significant cost-cutting, especially in in-flight services like meals." – Zachary Crockett (05:43)

• "We serve around 650 million passengers on more than 3.8 million flights every year, operating in 200+ locations across 60 countries." – Chris Kinsella (07:57)

• "I incorporate acid, sweetness, spice, and umami to enhance flavor naturally." – Molly Brandt (14:28)

• "Safety is top of mind, especially during flight delays where retrieving loaded food is challenging." – Chris Kinsella (19:09)

• "There's a real focus on those premium cabins, allowing for better offerings even in economy on longer international flights." – Chris Kinsella (21:44)

---

This episode sheds light on the hidden complexities behind the meals served thousands of feet above the ground, revealing an intricate dance of economics, logistics, and culinary innovation that ensures passengers are fed safely and satisfactorily during their journeys.

Transcript

[Narrator]

Are you still quoting 30 year old movies? Have you said cool beans in the past 90 days? Do you think Discover isn't widely accepted? If this sounds like you, you're stuck in the past. Discover is accepted at 99% of places that take credit cards nationwide. And every time you make a purchase with your card, you automatically earn cash back. Welcome to the now it pays to Discover. Learn [e-mail] credit card based on the February 2024 Nelson Report.

[Salesperson]

Is anyone out there another salesperson enduring the endless search? Exhausting. If you want to get right to the right conversations, you need LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Whether you're looking for new leads or strengthening existing relationships at your top accounts, get right to the right conversations with LinkedIn Sales Navigator. Try LinkedIn Sales Navigator now with a free 60 day [e-mail] trial. That's LinkedIn.com trial.

[Guillaume de Sion]

Terms and conditions apply.

[Zachary Crockett]

Over the course of her career as a chef, Molly Brandt has had all kinds of prestigious jobs.

[Molly Brandt]

I basically worked in every part of the restaurant industry from, you know, large scale hotels to private hotels, Michelin star restaurants to cruise lines to my own catering business.

[Zachary Crockett]

But today she works on dishes that aren't often in the spotlight.

[Molly Brandt]

I am the innovation chef for North America for Gate Group.

[Zachary Crockett]

Gate Group is the parent company of Gate Gourmet, one of the largest in flight catering companies. It makes food that's served on airplanes all over the world. When you hear the words airplane and food in the same sentence, you might think of rubbery meat, flavorless pasta and wilted salad served on a plastic tray.

[Molly Brandt]

Airline food is the butt of all the jokes. Right, And I fully understand that. But it doesn't have to be that way. We wanna move the needle in airline catering. We wanna make it a little bit more interesting.

[Zachary Crockett]

But making food that tastes good at 35,000ft is harder than it might seem.

[Molly Brandt]

We're fully cooking, we're chilling down and then plating cold. And then it goes up into the aircraft and it gets heated. That makes it very challenging to make food, let's say multidimensional.

[Chris Kinsella]

Every second counts. I know it sounds cliche, but in this business we always have to be on time. We always have to be there when we're supposed to. The food, the napkins, the glasses, all of that has to be perfect. Out of the kitchen.

[Zachary Crockett]

For the Freakonomics Radio Network. This is the economics of everyday things. I'm Zachary Crockett. Today, airplane food. To understand why modern day airline food is, well, the way it is, you first have to understand how food ended up on planes to begin with, early commercial airplanes in the 1920s generally accommodated fewer than 20 people and couldn't handle much extra weight. Food was usually cold sandwiches and fruit, and passengers were often served their meals in an airplane hangar during a refueling stop. In the late 1930s, carriers like Pan American and United Airlines began to elevate the dining experience with broiled chicken and Delmonico potatoes. Promotional advertisements from the era positioned airline food as a luxury.

[Narrator]

Here's the flying kitchen we've been hearing about with a charming stewardess to make your lunch the more delightful. A tasty lunch on a personal tray. Is it any wonder American Airways planes have become famous for delicious food? This is Travel Deluxe.

[Guillaume de Sion]

I'm Guillaume de Sion. I'm a professor of history at Albright College in Reading, Pennsylvania.

[Zachary Crockett]

Ducion has studied the cultural history of air travel, and he says it wasn't until after World War II that that commercial flight and the quality of the food on board really began to take off.

[Guillaume de Sion]

The flights become longer, and you can now start crossing the Atlantic, for example. It's wonderful. You see the clouds, you see the sea, and you start getting really, really bored.

[Zachary Crockett]

In the days before in flight movies and wifi, food was used as a form of entertainment. Food with a generous side of booze.

[Guillaume de Sion]

Flight attendants had instructions. You can give as much as you want to the passengers. There's no lim, so long as they don't become rowdy. And the whole point was to serve them, of course, the aperitif, the wine with dinner, and then, of course, a little, you know, Pouss cafe, the port, or something like that. The trick was to then jack up the heat. You send everybody to sleep.

[Zachary Crockett]

For several decades, airplane food enjoyed a golden age.

[Guillaume de Sion]

The idea was to have a whole course that you might have at a very fine restaurant, be it in Paris or New York. Flight attendants get special training in how to carve a roast, how to serve the salad, where to place the mayonnaise, et cetera, et cetera. All of these things are elaborately designed.

[Zachary Crockett]

There was almost no limit to the spread you could find on airplanes. Roast beef, baked ham, leg of lamb, lobster tails, French pastries, and Boston cream pie. On a Concorde jet flight, passengers could expect a six course meal with steak, caviar and champagne, all served on fine china plates and white tablecloths.

[Narrator]

No, this isn't one of those tempting glossy magazine illustrations. It's just one of the many delicious items served on board.

[Zachary Crockett]

But things began to change in 1978, when the airline industry was deregulated up until this point, airline fares were fixed by the federal government. After deregulation, carriers had more liberty in what they could charge. Airlines started enticing customers with low prices rather than amenities like food.

[Guillaume de Sion]

This is when you start seeing the low cost carriers that begin to introduce very low fares, very uncomfortable seats, but you still occasionally can get some food on board or you have to buy it.

[Zachary Crockett]

As ticket prices declined, planes also got bigger. More and more people started to fly and airlines faced a conundrum. They had to produce more food at a lower price point. As a result, the industry entered an era of intense cost cutting and food was a primary target. In one case, Robert Crandall, then the CEO of American Airlines, famously removed one olive from every dinner salad served on the plane. It saved the airline $40,000 a year.

[Guillaume de Sion]

The realization is that maybe we shouldn't have this extra olive or that extra little grape tomato. And so these are the beginnings of massive worldwide economic slowdown in terms of airline food.

[Zachary Crockett]

Today's airplane meals are prepared in massive quantities in kitchens near airports. There was a time when major airline carriers operated their own kitchens, but these days, most of them outsource the work to private airline catering companies. They design the recipes, order the ingredients, cook all the food, and transport meals to the airplanes on the tarmac. One of the largest of these companies is Gate Gourmet, a subsidiary of Gate Group.

[Chris Kinsella]

We have pretty much customers of all the major airlines that you can think about, whether they're in North America, South America, apac, the Middle East, Europe.

[Zachary Crockett]

Chris Kinsella is the chief commercial officer for North America at Gate Group. The company is headquartered in Switzerland and owned by Singaporean private equity firms. Globally, it takes in more than $6 billion in revenue, a substantial portion of which comes from its airline catering arm. They serve around 650 million passengers on more than 3.8 million flights every year.

[Chris Kinsella]

We operate in 200 plus locations, 60 countries, 6 continents.

[Zachary Crockett]

Gate Gourmet and other large airline catering companies like it have multi year contracts in place with the big carriers like Delta, United and Virgin Atlantic. They put in bids for the right to produce food for certain routes, say San Francisco to New York or Chicago to Boston. The terms of these contracts are secret, but we do know that airlines spend a considerable amount of money on food. United Airlines, for example, has an annual food budget of around $2 billion to serve some 60 million meals to its premium passengers. That works out to around 33 bucks per meal. Kinsella says that every airline's budget is different, but most of them tend to be hypervigilant about the cost of their food.

[Chris Kinsella]

The airline business, it's very cyclical. The airlines have to have a tight hand on their costs and the money that they're able to spend with food and beverage. Lemons and limes on an aircraft. Olives in a salad. Tomatoes in a salad. We are literally counting pennies with the airline on some of these items because when you're catering airlines at the size and scale that Gate Gourmet does, it's massive. So any change in pennies can yield thousands of dollars of savings.

[Zachary Crockett]

This penny counting has an impact on the types of dishes that end up on airplane menus, but the challenges of serving food at 35,000ft go far beyond economics.

[Chris Kinsella]

The conditions are different than your typical restaurant. It's difficult to execute under the environment when you have so many different variables out at the airport.

[Zachary Crockett]

That's coming up. The Economics of Everyday Things is sponsored by Mint Mobile. You know what doesn't belong in your epic summer plans? Getting burned by your old wireless bill. While you're planning beach trips, barbecues and three day weekends, your wireless bill should be the last thing holding you back. Make the switch to Mint Mobile with plans starting at 15 bucks a month, Mint Mobile gives you premium wireless service on the nation's largest 5G network. All plans come with high speed data and unlimited talk and text. The coverage and speed you're used to, but way less money. Ditch overpriced wireless and get three months of premium wireless service from Mint Mobile this year. Skip breaking a sweat and breaking the bank. Get your summer savings and shop premium Wireless [e-mail] Economics that's mintmobile.com Economics Upfront payment of $45 for 3 month 5 gigabyte plan required equivalent to $15 per month New customer offer for 3 months only, then full price plan options available, taxes and fees extra. See Mint Mobile for details.

[Salesperson]

Looking for a snack that's better for you and irresistibly tasty? Grab a bag of Skinny Pop Popcorn. The original ready to eat popcorn is made with just three simple ingredients and it still delivers all the light, airy and satisfyingly salty flavors you love. Share a bag of Skinny Pop with your favorite people or just keep it to yourself for some endlessly enjoyable solo snacking that lasts and lasts. Deliciously popped, perfectly salted Skinny Pop Popular for a reason.

[Zachary Crockett]

The Economics of Everyday Things is sponsored by Shopify. Starting a business is a dream lots of people share, but too many let it remain just a dream. Don't hold yourself back thinking what if I don't have the skills? What if I can't do it alone? Turn those what ifs into why nots with Shopify by your side. Shopify is the commerce platform behind millions of businesses around the world and 10% of all e commerce in the US from household names to brands Just getting started. No web design skills? Shopify's got your back with beautiful ready to go templates to match your brand's style. Plus, Shopify can help with everyday tasks like enhancing product images, writing product descriptions, or generating discount codes with their AI tools created for commerce. They'll even help you find your customers with easy to run email and social media campaigns. Sign up for your $1 per month trial and start selling today at shopify.com go to shopify.com everyday things shopify.com everyday things the journey to get your food onto an airplane begins months in advance in the home kitchen of someone like Molly Brandt.

[Molly Brandt]

I have years of magazine tearouts. I have an enormous, enormous and growing collection of cookbooks. One of my favorite things to look at are old archived church cookbooks. You can find some real gems back there that will give people this sense of like joy.

[Zachary Crockett]

As Gate Gourmet's innovation, Chef Brandt has to come up with airline meal recipes. It's a job that comes with limitations. Inside of an airplane cabin, the humidity level can be quite literally drier than a desert. And as the plane climbs in altitude, the air pressure drops. These conditions reduce the sensitivity of our taste buds by up to 30% for salty foods. Some airline caterers counter this by adding more salt to their meals. And Guillaume de Sion, the professor, says many passengers dump even more salt onto the plate to make the food less bland.

[Guillaume de Sion]

Your meal is not going to be healthy on board. Say you are in fact one of the lucky people who can get a steak in business class. Okay, they bring it to you right away because of course you don't want it to dry too much. You are going to put extra sauce on that thing or it's going to have extra pepper and salt no matter what, because in fact, it's the only way you're going to be able to taste it. I wouldn't blame the airlines or the caterers. We like to taste our food and that's the way we remedy it when we're at altitude.

[Zachary Crockett]

But Brandt says there are other ways to create flavorful dishes for the air.

[Molly Brandt]

I do not add more salt. I want to have a balanced dish. So I like to make sure that there is acid and sweetness and spice And a little bitterness. I like to incorporate umami wherever I can because it is kind of on the same path as that saltiness. Right. It's the same savory thing. And when you're in that pressurized environment and you are dehydrated, there's this craving for this savory flavor. I'll hide mushrooms and things. Mushrooms can make beef taste so much beefier. I will also lean on shio koji. So koji is a mold that is responsible for making miso, soy sauce, all kinds of these different flavors. And it is an enzyme that acts as a tenderizer, which is like double benefit in my experience.

[Zachary Crockett]

As well as compensating for the effects of the cabin environment, Brandt has to design meals that can withstand temperature changes. Airline meals are fully cooked, then chilled before they're loaded onto the airplane, where they're reheated in convection ovens. Some kinds of food simply can't withstand this ordeal.

[Molly Brandt]

So think about the things that if you went out to eat and then you said, I'm full, I would like to take that home. How does it do the next day? That burger probably isn't going to reheat that well, Keeping things kind of crispy, for example, like fries. So when we go out to eat, say, a fried breaded chicken cutlet and it comes with a really fresh vegetable salad on top, we really impossible to do that. Okay. If I need inspiration, and I'm not lying, I will walk through the frozen food section of a grocery store. Because basically these challenges that we're talking about are the same challenges that frozen food companies have to overcome.

[Zachary Crockett]

After Brandt comes up with something the airline likes, it goes to a team of design chefs and supply managers who engineer the concept into something that can be made affordably in very large volumes. From there, it's a matter of logistics. Cooking and prepping thousands of meals for hundreds of flights every day. At Gategormet's Kitchens, the catering team will receive a flight schedule from an airline a few weeks in advance. This tells them which flights they're scheduled to serve, the model of the plane, and how many of each dish to prepare.

[Molly Brandt]

Let's say you're the cook and you're making the sea bass to the proper internal temperature. And then it goes into a blast chiller must cool down to a certain degree within a certain period of time. From there, it gets a label because it's for a specific dish, for a specific aircraft, for a specific route. Then it gets wrapped and it goes on a tray, and then the trays go on the aircraft carts, and then all of these carts still in the refrigerated area get corralled with everything else that needs to go on that flight.

[Zachary Crockett]

These carts are loaded onto special trucks that zip across the tarmac and load up the airplanes. Once a plane is in the air, it's the flight crew's responsibility to reheat the meals in onboard convection ovens and serve them to passengers, mostly in business and first class.

[Molly Brandt]

When it comes to plating, from the flight attendant's perspective, we basically pre portion everything for them, and there's like a plating guide. So your sauce might be in, like a little foil cup next to the chicken, in a foil pan next to another foil cup that contains whatever other vegetable or side, and it all gets heated up, and then they're basically just using a spoon and the foil cup to put it on the plate.

[Zachary Crockett]

Once the food is on a plane, it's out of the catering company's control, but it's their responsibility to make sure all of those passengers who are captive up in the sky don't get sick from their offerings.

[Guillaume de Sion]

You want something that is guaranteed not to make the passengers fall sick. Some of us may have seen the old movies or the satire movies about, oh, shoot, the captain ate the fish, here we go, you're gonna crash. But there's some truth to that. You don't want a massive case of 200 poisons poisonings because something was not prepared properly.

[Zachary Crockett]

Gategormet goes to great lengths to avoid scares like this, but they still don't have a perfect track record. In 2004, 45 passengers flying out of Honolulu got food poisoning after reportedly eating contaminated carrots prepared by the caterer. And in 2017, FDA inspectors found numerous health infractions at one of the company's facilities in Kentucky. Gateg gourmet has since addressed these violations. But as with all food, the possibility of bacteria is always there. Chris kinsella, gate group's chief commercial officer for North America, says pilots are often served different meals than everyone else on board, just in case.

[Chris Kinsella]

In this sheer and rare chance that there's a concern with the food, it's important that they get a different meal because they're operating the aircraft.

[Zachary Crockett]

Kinsella says safety is especially top of mind during a flight delay. If food has already been loaded onto a plane, the time to retrieve it is limited.

[Chris Kinsella]

On any given day, there's weather that affects the operation of an airline at a basic level. So we're constantly monitoring when there is a delay. Sometimes a flight is canceled and it's just the nature of the business. So that food is brought back to the facility and all of the shelf stable items, all of the commissary items, those are segregated and separated and then sometimes that food is unable to be consumed. So unfortunately, in an effort to keep everybody safe, that gets disposed of.

[Zachary Crockett]

Of course, these days, complimentary airplane meals are mostly reserved for first class and business class passengers. On the majority of domestic flights in the United States, people and economy no longer get hot food unless they want to pay extra for it on board. And even when they do buy it, it's not the same fare the first class folks are getting.

[Molly Brandt]

It is 100% not the same food. There is a significant dollar difference between what is spent in business class or economy. And the more you pay for that ticket, the higher expectation it is for the product.

[Chris Kinsella]

There's a little bit more room for a higher quality, more improved offering in the business class. You see that there's a real focus on those type of passengers in those premium cabins. These days with food in economy, depending on who you're flying, customers that may not get a full complimentary hot meal. But international versus domestic travel, short haul versus long haul, the amount of time you're in that cabin, then the airlines can spend a little bit more and still offer something that's satisfying, even in the economy cabin.

[Zachary Crockett]

Most of us non first class plebes have to make do with a tiny bag of pretzels and if we're lucky, a Biscoff cookie. But Guillaume de Sion says he for one isn't jealous when he gets a whiff of the fish at the front of the plane.

[Guillaume de Sion]

People like to complain about this or that. The food. I mean, you like it, you don't like it, you decline it. It's a cliche, but we do get what we pay for. And I'm very happy with my cheap ticket. And if it means I get some not so appetizing food, so be it.

[Zachary Crockett]

For the economics of everyday things, I'm Zachary Crockett. This episode was produced by me and Sarah Lilly and mixed by Jeremy Johnston. We had help from Daniel Moritz Rapson and thanks to listeners Lucy Limesand and Sam Walker for suggesting this topic. If you have an idea for an episode, feel free to email us@everyday thingsreakonomics.com Our inbox is always open. All right, until next week. So when you look out the window at the terminal and see those little trucks rocketing across the Runway, our food could be in there somewhere.

[Chris Kinsella]

They're going at a safe speed, Zach, but absolutely.

[Molly Brandt]

The Freakonomics Radio Network. The hidden side of everything. Stitcher. Every speaker can play the hits, but not every speaker can take the hits after hits after hits after Splash. The new JBL Charge 6. Waterproof, drop proof, dust proof, LifeProof, wherever you listen. JBL Charge 6. Made to be heard.

[Narrator]

If this were a Reese's TV ad, you'd be staring at a Reese's Peanut Butter cup. And sure, my voice is peanut buttery smooth, but still, you need to see the peanut butter cups, right? No, I can really just say Reese's and you'll go get some. Okay. Reese's, Reese's, Reese's. They're working. Actually, Reese's, Reese's this. I'm onto something. Reese's, Reese's, Reese's, reese's. The new McCrispy strip is here. Dip approved by ketchup. Tangy barbecue, honey mustard, honey mustard, Sprite, McFlurry, Big Mac sauce, double dipped in buffalo and ranch. More ranch and creamy chili. McCrispy strip dip now at McDonald's.