AA backpedals on cheapened domestic first class meals

[FWAAA]

Speaking of meals, I was just made aware of a food fact watching one fo the food  channel shows. At 30k feet 1/3 of our taste receptcels are dormant, they reason airline food tatse so much less appealing.

Is that a function of air pressure or altitude? Reason I ask is that passengers are never subjected to 30k feet - the cabin altitude in a pressurized cabin is generally 7,000 to 8,000 feet, approximately the same as Vail, Aspen and Park City, and there is no shortage of fine restaurants in those resort towns. Sometimes the humidity level is very low in those towns as well. The food tastes fine in those restaurants, so what explains the airplane cabins?
 

Mark, MAH4546, why don't you like the A321T? I work it all the time and the pax give me rave reviews.

I like the A321T/32B except for one thing: the cabin temperature is frequently too warm - as in much too warm.

 

[MAH4546]

Mark, MAH4546, why don't you like the A321T? I work it all the time and the pax give me rave reviews.

 
I love it. Don't recall saying otherwise. I've flown both the F and J seats, and actually prefer the J. 

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

Oh, it just sounded like earlier in the thread you were fleeing to B6 and that made me sad

 

[UPNAWAY]

Is that a function of air pressure or altitude? Reason I ask is that passengers are never subjected to 30k feet - the cabin altitude in a pressurized cabin is generally 7,000 to 8,000 feet, approximately the same as Vail, Aspen and Park City, and there is no shortage of fine restaurants in those resort towns. Sometimes the humidity level is very low in those towns as well. The food tastes fine in those restaurants, so what explains the airplane cabins?
 
Good question, as I just saw this on TV when I wasn't even really paying attention, so I tried goggle and came up with this.
 
 

It's a question every traveler has asked themselves at some point: Why does airplane food taste so bad? No matter what it is—fish, chicken, even pasta—every meal served in the air seems to taste undeniably worse than its on-the-ground counterpart. To get to the bottom of this dilemma, we consulted Grant Mickels, the executive chef for culinary development of Lufthansa's LSG Sky Chefs—who had some surprising revelations. Namely: That the food's not really the problem here.
“At 35,000 feet, the first thing that goes is your sense of taste," explained Mickels. He explained that the quality of the food and its ingredients isn't to blame, it's the way you experience it. It's even been tested: The Fraunhofer Institute, a research organization based in Germany, did a study on why a dish that would be delicious in a fine dining restaurant could be, as Mickels put it, “so dull in the air.” In a mock aircraft cabin, researchers tried out ingredients at both sea level and in a pressurized condition—and the differences in taste were startling.
The tests revealed that the cabin atmosphere—pressurized at 8,000 feet—combined with the cool, dry cabin air "makes your taste buds go numb, almost as if you had a cold," explained Mickels. In fact, our perception of saltiness and sweetness drops by around 30 percent at high altitude. It also doesn't help that the decreased humidity in the cabin dries out your nose and dulls the olfactory sensors essential for tasting the flavor of an ingredient or dish.
Though your muted taste buds are the main reason behind your unpalatable airline food, its journey from the catering kitchen to your plate admittedly doesn't help, according to Harold McGee, a scientist and the author of On Food and Cooking: The Science and Lore of the Kitchen. After the food is prepared, it's chilled and stored until it’s time to load it onto a truck and, finally, onto the plane where it's served to passengers—which could be hours later.
"When food gets warmed up to room temperature or above, it starts to deteriorate, and once it crosses a threshold—160 degrees for meat, 140 degrees for fish—it is going to be dry and tough, no matter what you do," McGee explained when I interviewed him for an article on celebrity chefs a few years ago.
Still, don't write off airline food yet—Lufthansa and Mickel are doing something to fix it. Read about it here.

 

 

[UPNAWAY]

BTW, other stuidies have shown background noise to also diminsh the enjoyment of food and an A/C has a lot of that too.

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

FWAAA, for some reason the people in J bake while the people in Y get frozen. Don't ask me why.

 

[MAH4546]

Oh, it just sounded like earlier in the thread you were fleeing to B6 and that made me sad

 
Well, yes, I have a ticket booked in Mint this month. I'm not happy with the service direction Parker is taking the airline and am exploring other options, but I hope I can stay with AA because I love flying them and especially love the employees I fly with. But I won't spend my money (and increasingly more of it as fares become more expensive) on a US Airways-like product. I'm sure I'm not alone. 

 

[kirkpatrick]

Astra, are you talking about the A321T?  The problem is there are two zones and three cabins.  The best solution, besides keeping first and coach a tad on the chilly side, is to leave all the curtains open throughout the aircraft.  The circulation is better that way.  Some pursers balk at that idea, however.
 
MK

 

[jimntx]

BTW, other stuidies have shown background noise to also diminish the enjoyment of food and an A/C has a lot of that too.

Hey, maybe that's why I so dislike P.F. Chang's.  I don't think I've ever been in one that the noise wasn't deafening.  Those designer mirrored ceiling tiles reflect every decibel of the sound in the room.

 

[AdAstraPerAspera]

Yep, the A321T, everyone gets a blanket so I think its smart to keep things on the cool side, so long as you don't ice out the people in the first row of Y next to the 3L/R doors

 

[kirkpatrick]

 

 Why does airplane food taste so bad?
 
If all this science about bad food being due to altitude and lack of humidity, why did it taste so good back in the olden days when I started?  I carved hundreds of Chateaubriands and served Russian caviar and real pate de foie gras that tasted delicious.  Or did I just not know any better?
 
Even now, some of the dishes are quite tasty
 
MK 
 

 

 

 

[kirkpatrick]

 

 



 Why does airplane food taste so bad?
 
If all this science about bad food being due to altitude and lack of humidity, why did it taste so good back in the olden days when I started?  I carved hundreds of Chateaubriands and served Russian caviar and real pate de foie gras that tasted delicious.  Or did I just not know any better?
 
Even now, some of the dishes are quite tasty
 
MK   --frustrating.  can't edit, can't delete.
 

 

 


 

 

[jimntx]

I agree.  Some of the entrees even now are rather good.  I think some of this is due to instead of offering a dish without apology that is made the way it's always been made, we are "adjusting" spices and flavoring to "appeal to a broader audience" which is resulting in food that is more bland in taste--i.e., enchiladas with no jalapeno even allowed in the prep room.  

 

[Phoenix]

The nAAtive customers are circling and refuse to be Parker-fied.

The nAAtive marketing managers are circling and refuse to be Parker-fied.

I hope the nAAtive employees circle and refuse to be Parker-fied.

 

[700UW]

http://www.frequentbusinesstraveler.com/2014/11/american-airlines-upgrades-first-class-dining-on-domestic-flights/
 

American Airlines continues to fine-tune its first-class domestic service and announced enhancements as well as changes to meal windows to the current offerings on Friday for both American and US Airways.
Starting November 18, the minimum flight time for a meal will change to two hours and 30 minutes from two hours and 45 minutes.  On flights from 700 to 899 miles (1,127 to 1,447 kilometers) or two to two hours 30 minutes, the service is being upgraded from a snack basket to warmed mixed nuts, sandwiches, and fresh fruit.
American is also expanding the window for three-course meals from 1,000 to 1,298 miles (1,609 to 2,089 kilometers) to 900 to 1,298 (1,448 to 2,089), which translates to a flight time of two hours 30 minutes to three 30 minutes, versus two hours 45 minutes to three and one half hours).  In addition, starting December 1, it is expanding the window for breakfast so that flights departing as late as 9:45 a.m. local time will receive breakfast instead of lunch.  Previously the cutoff was 9:00 a.m.
The Fort Worth-based airline  is also bringing back ice cream as a dessert option on dinner flights that are over 1,299 miles (2,091 kilometers) and three hours 30 minutes in duration.  In addition, the airline will offer a made-to-order ice cream option on flights over 2,200 miles (3,540 kilometers) and four hours 30 minutes or a fruit-and-cheese plate.  Previously, the airline offered what it called “specialty” ice cream on these flights.