Do you get crew meals?

[CesnaCaptn]

And how good are they?

 

[General Lee]

At DL we get first class meals during any flight over 5:45 and any INTL flight. Anything less than 545 depends on whether or not the first class passengers eat it all, or the stews devour it. Again, anything over 5:45 must have a 1st class meal for us. I had an ice cream sundae with a choice of fudge/caramel/butterscotch topped with whip cream too. The first class meals are pretty good, with a salad and either pasta, chicken, or steak. The INTL flights have multiple course meals too, with a breakfast too before landing in Europe.

Bye Bye--General Lee

 

[AWACoff]

On the 73 out of GUM for CO, we get a crew meal on virtually every leg. On the HNL hopper we get 2 meals. They are the first class meals. Normal meals are chicken cordon bleu, steak, or fish with a vegetable and a starch (potatos, etc.). They also come with a side salad. Deserts are normally cookies or brownies but once in a while there is the option of a sundae. This applies whenever a duty period is scheduled to exceed 6 but not more than 12 hours. A 2nd crew meal applies over 12 hours of scheduled duty. Overall the meals are good and I don't bring any food on trips.

 

[Yuppyguppy]

UA we get meals all the time...15 different choices

 

[crxpilot]

What is this "crew meal" that you speak of?! {allegiant}

 

[Dirty Sanchez]

What is this "crew meal" that you speak of?! {allegiant}

I think it is when the captain can't finish his Subway or Quiznos and offers it to someone else in the crew. Or maybe when everyone goes to dinner together on the overnight.

 

[PeanuckleCRJ]

At DL we get first class meals during any flight over 5:45 and any INTL flight. Anything less than 545 depends on whether or not the first class passengers eat it all, or the stews devour it.

The key is getting it past the stews. They are pretty dang good when we do get them- I love the oreo brownies. I use the technique of buying chow in the airport before any transcon. You always get fed when you've already brought food on board, haha.


Bye Bye- Pineapple767

 

[gangdev]

we can eat as many bags of pretzels as we want!

 

[On Your Six]

Everyone gets to pass around a Snickers bar....

Actually, at my Part 91 gig we eat quite well. Plenty of leftover steak, shrimp, etc. - whatever the owner eats (which tends to be good and expensive).

 

[JohnQ]

At DL we get first class meals during any flight over 5:45 and any INTL flight. Anything less than 545 depends on whether or not the first class passengers eat it all, or the stews devour it. Again, anything over 5:45 must have a 1st class meal for us. I had an ice cream sundae with a choice of fudge/caramel/butterscotch topped with whip cream too. The first class meals are pretty good, with a salad and either pasta, chicken, or steak. The INTL flights have multiple course meals too, with a breakfast too before landing in Europe.

Bye Bye--General Lee

Actually the contract states that any flight over 5:30 (not 5:45) or any international one-day turnaround IN WHICH THE PAX THEMSELVES get meals (i.e. yes to San Jose, CR, no to Liberia, etc.) will result in first class meals being provided to the pilots, in addition to all the "true" international flights.

 

[IAHERJ]

Excellent crew meals at Continental on International trips. Hawaii and trans conns get food too but other domestic trips are leftovers from first class or coach if the FA's have not hogged them(which is the case of first class food most of the time). The coach meals are hot but not too healthy(pizza's cheeseburgers). Good news is that they will bring up several for each of you on the domestic trips. International trips provide a menu for the pilots to fill out before push and they rotate out things depending on which direction you are going. I like the new chicken cordon bleu as well as the Veal chop we get back in the Winter. Pasta is hit or miss but fish(2 types) can be pretty tasty. Desserts never end and include cheese plates, fruit plates along with the Sundaes and fresh cookies before landing(west) etc. I have gained weight since going to the 757/767 for sure. Somebody told me that CAL was on Forbes 100 list as the #1 airline for wasted food. I believe it. Not too many places serve hot food in coach on short domestic flights anymore.

IAHERJ

 

[Wesb737fo]

all I can say is Chork! (the other white meat) plus the orange colored unidentifiable vegatable.

 

[Freight Dog]

First class meal at Aloha.

This month, it's Thai Chicken Curry or Teriyaki Lamb... or in the morning, it's crab cakes or omelette.

 

[NEDude]

Crew meals every leg at USA3000. Hotmeals on outbound legs, Sandwiches on returns. Usually choice of omlets, waffles or cereal for breakfast with sides of fruit, muffins and such. Lunch/dinner lately is ravioli or chicken with salad, cheese and crackers, dinner roll and cake or cookies for dessert. Lots of fruit for munching on at all times. We used to get chips, cookies and stuff for munching, but many guys started getting fat(ter) so we went healthy.

 

[iaflyer]

We get meals on all trips where you might be hungry - the contract says flight has to be six hours or longer, but essentially that's all our flying. Meals range from excellent stuff out of JFK or EWR that is catered by a local restaurant with huge portions. Sometimes it's lobster and shrimp or a NY strip steak (with a lasagna for everyone because it's an Italian restaurant) along with salad and dessert. Oh, a Italian sub is also provided as a pre-departure snack as we call it.

Outside the US, it's hit or miss with Europe's catering being a bit weak while Bahrain/Kuwait/Dubai is pretty good. If the flight is long, we'll get double catering.

You'll never go hungry over at Kalitta Air, that's for sure.

 

[IAHERJ]

Who cooks the meals at Kalitta? Do you have a person to put them on plates with silverware etc. or do you heat them yourself(do you have ovens?). Just interested. I see more and more 747's over by our maintenance hanger every day in EWR. Business must be good.

IAHERJ

 

[Bjammin]

At Cathay on the frieghter it's steak, chicken, or fish. A nice sandwich tray, currys, noodles, cookies, fruit, muffins, and tarts all are standard fare on a trip.

 

[snow-back]

Rudy's or the caterer of choice for each airport we go to. There is no airline in the country that can hold a candle to Rudy's Inflight. Usually direct billed and if not it goes on a company card.

I can't believe I thought the Delta boxed lunches were good to haveuke:.

 

[TheBaron]

For us it's feast (international) or famine (domestic). If you aren't careful flying the MD-11 out of ANC you will put on 20 lbs. a year.

 

[Rez O. Lewshun]

Crew meals? You bet.... only the best that HMS Host or Aramark can serve.... oh..and its self serve too!

 

[HAL]

At Hawaiian we get first class meals (except interisland of course). Currently our FC meals are a 'tasting menu' which means we and the pax get our choice of three out of the five available dishes. Each plate is about 4" square and three of them make a decent meal. On the tray we get the three plates, plus (usually) a roll and a desert. The menu is different eastbound vs. westbound, and changes overall about once every quarter.

One set of choices included 1) A fruit/cheese/nut plate, 2) Thai Beef skewers on rice, 3) Turkey & gravy with polenta mash, 4) Scallops with vinagrette & fennel, 5) Green Beans & Pearl onions.

A different set of plates included a really good lamb chop with currant jelly, or a Beet/Onion mix in butter sauce.

They're all pretty good, although once you've been through the menu the choices are actually less than having three or so completely different crew meals. By having to pick three out of five plates, you end up eating essentially the same thing each time. The other problem is that being "First Class" meals, they're really heavy in fat and salt. Once in a while I've just wanted to shout "All I want is a freakin' salad!". I've noticed that some of us have taken to bringing on our own meals a little more often than before.

HAL

 

[amt]

We only get when a nice jumpseater bring to the flight deck....a very rare event now days

 

[iaflyer]

Who cooks the meals at Kalitta? Do you have a person to put them on plates with silverware etc. or do you heat them yourself(do you have ovens?). Just interested. I see more and more 747's over by our maintenance hanger every day in EWR. Business must be good.

The meals are already cooked and delivered in tupperware-like containers or aluminum serving trays - we just heat them up. We have a oven and a microwave to heat them up, although in Newark/JFK the meals are usually warm since they just came from the kitchen. We carry paper plates, plastic silverware, cups and all that stuff to eat off off. Overseas we get setups with the roll, cheese and crackers, silverware, salad, dessert, etc. to put the entree on after we heat it.

Business is good - we just got our 20th airplane last week. Strong rumors of 747-400s in 2009.

 

[get2flyin]

We get meals on longer legs and when flying at certain times on the clock. Sometimes we just get 1st class meals, other times we get special stuff the flight attendants heat up for us. We have our choice between the brown stuff and the green stuff. I usually let the Captains choose but they taste pretty much the same. If have secretly suspected for some time that the green is really the brown that sat around for some time. I think the brown stuff tastes pretty good.

 

[CA1900]

If have secretly suspected for some time that the green is really the brown that sat around for some time. I think the brown stuff tastes pretty good.

The green stuff? It's made of people!!!

 

[freighthumper]

Rudy's or the caterer of choice for each airport we go to. There is no airline in the country that can hold a candle to Rudy's Inflight. Usually direct billed and if not it goes on a company card.

I can't believe I thought the Delta boxed lunches were good to haveuke:.

If you think Rudys is good you HAVE to try Gourmet Air(martini grill) in TEB, also A Fresh Affair in TEB caters too, seriously amazing catering, their fillet is the best Ive ever had catered, and its CHEAP compared to rip off artists like Rudys

 

[Guitar Guy]

Rudy's or the caterer of choice for each airport we go to. There is no airline in the country that can hold a candle to Rudy's Inflight.

I think Rudy's quality has really slid over the past year or two. It used to be really good stuff and we'd usually request crew food when we were going through an airport served by Rudy's. However, lately, we usually try to get something from other caterers. And it's not just crew food, it's also the food for the people in the back that's gone downhill.

 

[CA1900]

And it's not just crew food, it's also the food for the people in the back that's gone downhill.

I will say the pax fruit trays are still terrific. :0

I found a new crew breakfast from Rudy's I really like, though: The fruit-stuffed french toast. The one I had in TEB the other day was absolutely terrific; I'd get it again in a heartbeat.

Long live the new regional menus!

 

[Bob Dylan]

Good food on the Mad Dog, with an oven and fridge.