Inflight food: Best and worst airlines for passenger meals
Virgin America and Delta come out on top
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Your support makes all the difference.A recently published report has named the best and worst US airlines for inflight food.
The report by Charles Platkin PhD, a health columnist, professor and entrepreneur, looked at 12 US airlines, and tied Virgin America and Delta for top spot, saying, “Delta is the clear leader among the major carries and is tied with Virgin America this year as the healthiest airline.”
It was published on the website Diet Detective, and highlighted the average calorie count per menu choice as 405, a rise of 12.5 per cent since 2012. Platkin stressed that calories were not the only health factor studied, with emphasis on nutrients within each foodstuff, in addition to “innovations moving towards healthy, tasty, inexpensive, sustainable foods”.
Other airlines that performed well were Air Canada and JetBlue with 3.75 stars (out of a maximum of five) and Alaska Airlines, with 3.5.
United Airlines performed badly with 2.75, and American Airlines worse with 2.5. Hawaiian Airlines was the worst, however, landing up with just one star.
Platkin awarded a “Shame on You” gong to Hawaiian, and slated AA and United. The academic wrote: "Hawaiian just does not respond while United’s food and beverage department seems put out by the process, and it shows in their responses to queries. American Airlines is not too far behind with a media rep who also seems put out by the process."
Platkin heaped praise on Delta, however, saying the airline "is doing an incredible job focusing on improving its food, transparency and communication. It is the clear leader among the big carriers by a long shot. While calories are surely not everything, it’s always nice to see a decrease; the overall calories are down from 527 to 480."
The full list is as follows:
Best and worst inflight meals
Delta 4 stars
Virgin America 4 stars
Air Canada 3.75 stars
JetBlue 3.75 stars
Alaska Airlines 3.5 stars
United Airlines 2.75 stars
American 2.5 stars
Frontier Air 2.25 stars
Southwest Airlines 2 stars
Allegiant Air 1.75 stars
Spirit Airlines 1.75 stars
Hawaiian Airlines 1 star
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