Up and away to culinary highlights! Over the past weeks we have repeatedly received questions about eating and drinking on board of Austrian Airlines. So we set about preparing some background information on the planning and production of Austrian Airlines inflight meals. Starting today, we begin with our new redblog Special about our meals above the clouds. We are going to tell you who are responsible for planning and coordinating the menus. And the first ones to be introduced are the Inflight Service-Team of Austrian Airlines!
Catering above the clouds
How does a menu actually become a menu in the skies? At Austrian Airlines this is a long and selectiv
e process, divided into many small steps. But first things first 
. Our Inflight Service-Team plays a very essential role in the planning and coordination of menus. The Inflight Service-Team is the interface between DO & CO and our board service. Part of the team consists of flight attendants who keep providing new insight and information. Our culinary crew selects the menus, suggests changes and collects the passengers’ feedback. Moreover, they are in charge of the setup of our trays (traysetting). No doubt, this is a precision job: A cup, for instance, must not be higher than 52 mm, or else it won’t fit onto the trolley!
A lot of menus and lots to do: On short- and mid-haul routes there are a total of 8 menus which are changed every 6 months. On long-haul routes the menu is changed every two months. The different meals rotate every week so that they do not recur on a flight. “It’s like at home. There you often have a kind of menu, too,” says Alexander Mayer, Head of Inflight Product & Cabin Standards. And then there’s the gastronomic calendar: Every time of the year has its seasonal meals. “In May we serve asparagus, in August apricots and for St. Martin’s Day it will be goose”, sums up Alexander Mayer.
Flying meals
So when is a meal fit for flying? Upon request of the Inflight Service-Team , DO & CO develops the menu concepts, which of course have to be airworthy. “We strive to run a restaurant above the clouds, but at the end of the day it’s still an aircraft”, emphasizes Alexander. For instance, it is not recommendable to use too much gravy: During climb flight it will spill over the rim. Here we benefit greatly from our team’s long years of thorough experience, and of course DO & CO’s: “DO & CO has the best expertise. They do not even suggest food that is not suitable for airlines.”
Once the menu has been conceived, the trial phase at long last begins! In the kitchen of DO & CO the Inflight Service-Team is testing the meals. If need be, the crew changes the composition of a dish – sometimes it’s the small details that count: “We make sure to put that extra raspberry on a dessert”. When sampling is finished, things get exciting: The dishes are taken into the so-called Mock Up, a cabin simulator. Here the entire service process is being simulated – including the ovens. All meals are tested for airworthiness.
Not before the meals have passed their test in the cabin simulator, will they be sent on their first flight. On this first flight Alexander is part of the crew – he himself is a trained flight attendant and monitors whether or not all processes run smoothly. Once a dish has been successfully accepted into our menu, it will start flying with us as of a certain date. Until then the dish remains secret, of course. Next week we’ll take a look into the kitchen of DO & CO. Or rather: the kitchens. But let’s not give away too much yet.
Tags: DO & CO
