It looks like the inbound flight from IAD RONs at DEN before departing for NRT the next day. I'm not familiar enough with catering policy and logistics, but isn't there a food safety risk here? At least 24 hours would have elapsed between when the meals are prepared at IAD and serving onboard UA143.
Originally Posted by
goodeats21
IIRC, indications are the plane comes in from IAD, where the catering is loaded up and saved for the NRT flight. They then serve on the DEN->NRT route.
So no real impact to the actual catering / menu / etc.