Originally Posted by
Dawgfan6291
Not every airport has a LGS or Gate Gourmet kitchen to cater flights. So in that case Delta (and the other airlines) will contract with a airport restaurant to do the catering. I don't know if most of you have noticed but pretty much every restaurant in the country is struggling to find employees. So the issue right now in the flight kitchen-less airports is the airlines are having a very hard time finding a restaurant willing (much less able) to take on a catering contract again.
Absolutely with you on this... One of my "COVID gigs" was coordinating and handling international charters/ICE/repatriation flights (like 787s from Vietnam). Even at like a DFW, could not get any traditional kitchen to cater even a one-off flight. I actually ended up making a pretty neat deal there that benefited all around - I got the company that made and catered the food for the various non-AA lounges (like the Club at DFW) to handle. Worked out as they weren't exactly doing full menu in the clubs that were even open. Similar deals in other places. I had a standing order with Jason's Deli in one location for boxes for a couple weekly B767s.
It is manageable... but only to a certain scale. I don't blame Delta for going with the current arrangement versus enormously complicating their supply chain and procurement with hunting down and contracting one-offs everywhere that the flight kitchen is not yet open or cannot handle the volume.