Cathay Pacific Asia Miles - No more freshly cooked eggs in First Class!

Just got off CX883 First Class (LAX-HKG arrival 12Mar). Very disappointing to see they have discontinued freshly cooked eggs for breakfast in First Class. The only choice for breakfast was the "Mushroom Omelet" (same as in J class) or Dim Sum. The "freshly cooked eggs" choice has also been eliminated from the menu.

The flight attendants claimed this is due to "Bird Flu". That explanation really doesn't make sense since they are serving an omelet and this flight originated in North America, not Hong Kong.

Hope this is not yet another permanent cutback in service on CX.




[This message has been edited by paisan96 (edited Mar 11, 2004).]

<font face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica, sans-serif" size="2">Originally posted by paisan96:
Just got off CX883 First Class (LAX-HKG arrival 12Mar). Very disappointing to see they have discontinued freshly cooked eggs for breakfast in First Class. The only choice for breakfast was the "Mushroom Omelet" (same as in J class) or Dim Sum. The "freshly cooked eggs" choice has also been eliminated from the menu.



The flight attendants claimed this is due to "Bird Flu". That explanation really doesn't make sense since they are serving an omelet and this flight originated in North America, not Hong Kong.

Hope this is not yet another permanent cutback in service on CX.


[This message has been edited by paisan96 (edited Mar 11, 2004).]</font>

I just did 4 segments in CX F and 1 did have freshly cooked eggs, it was JNB-HKG.

I'm looking at all 3 menus and they do have it listed, although they were not available on LAX-HKG and HKG-JNB. The other segment (HKG-LAX) is all evening/day/evening flight thus no breakfast.



[This message has been edited by andrzej (edited Mar 12, 2004).]

Andrezj.
When did you fly?

The flight attendants said fresh eggs have been removed from First Class as of 1 Mar. Seems you had the same experience as I did with no fresh eggs LAX-HKG and HKG-JNB.

Seems to me bird flu is just a convenient excuse. J class service was downgraded during SARS and they never brought J class service back to what it was.

Write to the customer relations at CX and ask them for an explanation on this matter and on the J class service.

On a recent flight, the flight attendant suggested that the J class a-la-carte sytle service will commence shortly but I would get a clarification on the First Class eggs and J class meal service from the horses mouth that sit in the Ivory Tower of Cathay City.

This is probably the best option to get the info and answer.

I suspect you're being too harsh on Cathay. After the recent mad cow outbreak, there was no beef being served on 888, and it's perfectly "like them" to be overly sensitive about bird flu. Eggs don't cost anything, so the only reason not to have them would be to reduce crew workload, not likely to be an issue for their F class staff.

From the Cathay Pacific travel advisory:

According to WHO, cooked egg dishes made from pasteurized eggs are safe for consumption. To avoid passenger anxiety, all fresh eggs have been removed from long-haul breakfast services out of Hong Kong Los Angeles, New York, San Francisco and Vancouver, replaced with a cooked omelette dish. Moreover, all eggs used for flights out of Hong Kong are imported from Holland, an unaffected area.

The reason why the United States has been included in the egg ban is probably due to the H7N1 (?) strain which surfaced in Delaware a few weeks ago..

Moreover, Hong Kong is really sensitive to these issues, especially after SARS. Imported live chickens are all banned to enter Hong Kong. CX also removed chicken as the main course on some flights.

Instead of crying over the non-availability of freshly cooked eggs, why not ask for another helping of salmon and caviar .... for breakfast, with some Krug? http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/smile.gif

Actually, the fresh cooked eggs disappeared in mid-Feb, when I flew HKG-LAX. It was at the same time that chicken dishes were removed from the FC/BC menus. My regional flights of early Feb had no chicken.

I had fresh eggs 2 weeks ago MEL-HKG. The chicken entree listed on the menu wasn't there on the HKG-YVR flight that I connected to, however.

------------------
AA - Home of the best FF program in the world.

On my four flights this month in First [YYZ-HKG-JNB rtn], all but one had the fresh egg option: HKG-YYZ which offered an omlette.

I just flew LAX-HKG again on 28 April 04. Still no freshly cooked eggs in First Class.

The flight attendant told me fresh eggs have been put back on all long haul routes with the exception of North America to Hong Kong.
There are also no chopped eggs served with the Caviar.

Very disappointing. ( and I no longer see the Bird Flu warning about egg dishes on the CX website).

....................

They're back -- nicely scrambled eggs today on CX101.

but kitchen equipment seems to vary by airline equipment....

Made Fresh to Order
*** Last year, we became one of the first airlines to put rice cookers, toasters and skillets on board*, enabling our flight attendants to prepare freshly cooked rice, toast and eggs. First Class passengers can now go à la carte and choose their own meals and dine anytime they wish.
Hmm, how about having fried eggs, sunny-side up?
* Available in all our B747's and will be progressively installed in our A340's.

http://www.cathaypacific.com/intl/inflight/meals/0,,,00.html

On May 3rd, I flew JNB-HKG. They were offered on that flight.

On May 4th, I flew HKG-YVR. In lieu of freshly cooked, we were offered a Spanish Omelette or a quiche, not to mention the Chinese option.

but kitchen equipment seems to vary by airline equipment....

Made Fresh to Order
*** Last year, we became one of the first airlines to put rice cookers, toasters and skillets on board*, enabling our flight attendants to prepare freshly cooked rice, toast and eggs. First Class passengers can now go à la carte and choose their own meals and dine anytime they wish.
Hmm, how about having fried eggs, sunny-side up?
* Available in all our B747's and will be progressively installed in our A340's.

http://www.cathaypacific.com/intl/inflight/meals/0,,,00.html

CX's website is dreadfully out of date. Shouldn't that now be "being progressively removed from our A340s"?

Eggs back on 1 Jul! Except from YVR

Letter from CX:

Thank you for your letters of 7th & 21st May 2004.

It is most regrettable to learn that you were disappointed with no fresh eggs uplifted for breakfast service on First Class on flights departing from North America. We changed to provide hot egg dishes, such as omelette, since early February 2004 due to the Avian Flu outbreak.

As the Avian Flu outbreak has been diminished and the ban of poultry importation from Hong Kong Government lifted, I am pleased to advise that we will resume to uplift fresh eggs and chicken dish with effect from 1 July 2004 on flights departing from North America (except Vancouver).

May I take this opportunity to thank you for your patronage of Cathay Pacific and I hope it will not be too long before we have the pleasure of welcoming you aboard another of our flights.

Yours sincerely

Customer Relations

Eggs back on 1 Jul! Except from YVR

Letter from CX:

Thank you for your letters of 7th & 21st May 2004.

It is most regrettable to learn that you were disappointed with no fresh eggs uplifted for breakfast service on First Class on flights departing from North America. We changed to provide hot egg dishes, such as omelette, since early February 2004 due to the Avian Flu outbreak.

As the Avian Flu outbreak has been diminished and the ban of poultry importation from Hong Kong Government lifted, I am pleased to advise that we will resume to uplift fresh eggs and chicken dish with effect from 1 July 2004 on flights departing from North America (except Vancouver).

May I take this opportunity to thank you for your patronage of Cathay Pacific and I hope it will not be too long before we have the pleasure of welcoming you aboard another of our flights.

Yours sincerely

Customer Relations

That's good news. When they mention Vancouver, I am assuming they mean the afternoon departure as that flight does not offer breakfast. I assume the CX 889 will get freshly made eggs as it would not make sense to not do it on only one route. I also assume the new non-stop frlight from JFK will not get the eggs, as it should not be serving breakfast.