Introduction to Catering
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
C H A P T E R 1
• • • •
Introduction to flight catering
Flight Catering
• • • • • 2
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 m2 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 before food and beverage service became a feature of air travel. As early as
1914, Zeppelin airships served passengers champagne with their in-flight meal, and in the 1920s they introduced flying dining rooms with chefs preparing hot meals (Dana, 1999).
The first regular passenger service by aeroplane began in August 1919 in
Europe, between England and France, and flight catering was there from the
• 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
C H A P T E R 1
• • • •
Introduction to flight catering
Flight Catering
• • • • • 2
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 m2 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 before food and beverage service became a feature of air travel. As early as
1914, Zeppelin airships served passengers champagne with their in-flight meal, and in the 1920s they introduced flying dining rooms with chefs preparing hot meals (Dana, 1999).
The first regular passenger service by aeroplane began in August 1919 in
Europe, between England and France, and flight catering was there from the
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