Cabin crew on certain flights have to serve food to every single plane passenger on the aircraft. There are often different choices but food can still run out or travellers can have difficult demands. A flight attendant has revealed one alarming way plane crew on her aircraft dealt with a plane food problem. Heath Poole explained the travel trick in her 2012 book Cruising Attitude.
Poole revealed they have a shocking hack to fool passengers into thinking their demands have been met.
This is particularly the case with steak – and fussy travellers who want their meat a certain way.
“Because they are only a few ovens that keep everything warm, we can’t cook meals to order,” the cabin crew worker wrote in the book.
“So when a premium-class passenger requests the steak well done, the galley will either deny the request or dunk the piece of meat into a cup of hot water until it’s the proper shade of brown.”
The disturbing short cuts do not stop there however and Poole revealed the other hacks used by flight attendants.
One concerns salad dressing and how cabin crew solve the issue of it running out.
“If the balsamic salad dressing is a popular choice in business, a good galley will mix in a little orange juice to stretch it out for a few more rows, thwarting potential passenger meltdown,” Poole said.
Another trick relates to dessert and is less unpleasant: “Lumpy hot fudge becomes smooth once again with just a drop of hot coffee,” Poole said.
Some methods used by flight attendants are highly practical for coping with life in the plane kitchen.
“Most [galley crew] are organised, handy and familiar with the tricks of the trade,” wrote Poole.
“They can cut through the paper surrounding a bottle of wine using a pair of salad tongs.
“They’ll keep coffee warm by placing cookie plates over aluminium pots.
“Champagne corks unwilling to budge are placed upside down in a cup of hot water for just a few seconds and then – pop! – mimosas for first class.”
However, Poole adds for this last trick: “The airline does not condone this as someone is bound to get shot in the eye with a flying cork if it’s not done correctly.”
Crew often use code words and actions to communicate with one another during a flight.
EasyJet flight attendants have revealed what some of the bizarre gestures you might seem do really mean.
If you spot a flight attendant tucking in their arms and flapping to mimic a chicken, there is a rational explanation. This simple move, in fact, conveys to another cabin crew member that they are in need of a chicken caesar baguette, easyJet crew revealed in a video.
Such an action is likely to be used as the food trolley travels up the aircraft aisle and they need to indicate to someone in the galley the food order to be heated and served.
