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FAQ: Air Canada New meal offerings for International Business Class Customers

FAQ: Air Canada New meal offerings for International Business Class Customers

Old Oct 2, 2014, 7:16 am
  #16  
 
Join Date: Mar 2014
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Originally Posted by Sean Peever
Sounds great (some we've heard). I like that it's being plated in the Galley on the longer flights.

I wish they would include YVR - Asia on this as well.
I immediately think of YVR - HKG on the HD, and imagine that plating so many there would be challenging.
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 7:17 am
  #17  
Company Representative - Air Canada
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Canada
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Originally Posted by bakersdozen
Apart from the perception of choice the cynic in me thinks this is really a cost saving move spun as an "enhancement" as now they don't have to give everyone all the items for breakfast etc. for example now they stock 20 yogurts, etc instead of the whole cabin. They now serve the snacks that were usually on hand during the flight as the brunch option? As well, with the reduction of flight attendants recently last month their work load will be even greater.... service will be even slower now that they have to spend additional time plating...
Not sure how you cooked this one up... this is not a cost savings exercise; we spent $$ for all these initiatives. Yes, we no longer to board yogurt for everyone on Europe but at the same time, we added extra options too and we don't get them for free - Oatmeal, quiche, 2 kinds of cereals.

The brunch option has nothing to do with snacks, the current 3rd option we've added on YYZ/Asia just so happens to be a stir fry noodles with dim sum (which is a very popular brunch item in Asia) - nothing to do with the mid flight snacks dim sum.

I flew on YYZ-NRT today with the new crew complement, meal service completed within 2.5 hrs as per our specifications. (And no, I didn't help out as I am not allowed to serve customers or work as a FA) On all the trial flights we ran before launch, none of the meal service took longer than 2.5 hours. Of course there will be flights that will take a bit longer as our galley flight attendants get used to doing this - many of them have done this before and some have never done it so that's where the variation will come in at launch.
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 7:19 am
  #18  
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Originally Posted by Dorian
How the hell does this make any sense? What a total load of crap.

YYZTLV is 10:35

YVRHKG is 13:05
YVRPVG is 12:10
etc etc

Is this simply due to the caterers on these routes being the only ones who can handle the new format?
Ultra Long Haul flights as phase 1 (Which is all the YYZ-Asia & YVR-SYD). We added TLV as that's a year round 788 flight from YYZ.

Other stations will be added in 2015. We need a phase in approach for such a big change.
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 7:20 am
  #19  
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Originally Posted by CdnFlier
I was just on one of these flights (well HND) and it was that same breakfast on arrival. I've never liked it. So I took the breakfast tray and had them cook up the dim sum snacks and the noodle soup with dumplings and used that as the main.

Mind you that's sort of what the descriptions implies they are doing officially now. Hopefully it's a little more substantial!
There should have been a 3rd option - full casserole with stir fry noodles/dim sum as the brunch option. Did you have that on your flight? (Oct 1) If not, please do let me know.
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 7:21 am
  #20  
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Originally Posted by Dorian
How the hell does this make any sense? What a total load of crap.

YYZTLV is 10:35

YVRHKG is 13:05
YVRPVG is 12:10
etc etc

Is this simply due to the caterers on these routes being the only ones who can handle the new format?
I believe every flight mentioned originates in YYZ, was the YVR-SYD is in essence YYZ-YVR-SYD.

I would assume by that the the catering for these new services are in YYZ only.
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 7:22 am
  #21  
Company Representative - Air Canada
 
Join Date: May 1999
Location: Canada
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Originally Posted by zorn


Warm bread with cheese?

Bread temperature is a common issue with plane food. Room temperature is ideal. A warm soft dinner roll can be nice. Sometimes bread comes really cold, which is not nice.

But I don't get warm bread with cheese. Won't that just mess up the cheese?
Certainly not the intention... all it means is that it's not totally cold.
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 10:16 am
  #22  
 
Join Date: Apr 2014
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I think it's great. Thank you for upgrading the experience, hopefully it is as good as it sounds.
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 10:36 am
  #23  
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Hey Andrew,

Thanks! Any updates on updating domestic J meals or are there no initiatives for that?

Thanks
Penguin
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 11:31 am
  #24  
 
Join Date: Feb 2013
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I think these changes sound very promising. Thanks!!
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 2:22 pm
  #25  
 
Join Date: Jan 2007
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Will this mean the beef won't be a hockey puck in soup going forward? 4/5 times it is what I receive. The 1/5 times it isn't, it's because I ask them to take it out 5 minutes early and they do. Then it comes out warm, medium-rare, and no soup. I understand the 787 has programmed ovens to cook different dishes to different levels but flight from Haneda last week still presented beef soup. Other airlines don't seem to have this issue, and quite clearly it can even be avoided on Air Canada as long as the timing is done right. It would really make the meal more pleasant. The other dishes also suffer from this sort of issue, but less prominently.
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 3:04 pm
  #26  
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Join Date: May 1999
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Originally Posted by pmax
Will this mean the beef won't be a hockey puck in soup going forward? 4/5 times it is what I receive. The 1/5 times it isn't, it's because I ask them to take it out 5 minutes early and they do. Then it comes out warm, medium-rare, and no soup. I understand the 787 has programmed ovens to cook different dishes to different levels but flight from Haneda last week still presented beef soup. Other airlines don't seem to have this issue, and quite clearly it can even be avoided on Air Canada as long as the timing is done right. It would really make the meal more pleasant. The other dishes also suffer from this sort of issue, but less prominently.
787 has steam ovens so it tends to cook the food better. You shouldn't see as much water in the dishes now with galley plating as the flight attendant is manually plating the dish so they are not going to pour the watery sauce onto the dish as well. We're not the only airline with that issue, I've seen similar on my flights on CX, BA in J - believe it has something to do with the ovens and the fact that the beef has to be pre-cooked (hence you see the piece of bread we put under the steak to absorb some of it). Hopefully with steam ovens and galley plating your beef will be better! Keep me posted on your experiences.
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 3:04 pm
  #27  
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Originally Posted by superangrypenguin
Hey Andrew,

Thanks! Any updates on updating domestic J meals or are there no initiatives for that?
Not yet, 2015. International is higher on the priority list for us for obvious reasons.
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 3:22 pm
  #28  
 
Join Date: Dec 2010
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What is the big deal about manual plating? The food won't taste any better. Hygiene can be uneven something the oven managed much better. Now, portions may be uneven as well. Bigger and better for FA favourites. Invisible for me. Where is Tedgrrrr?
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 3:39 pm
  #29  
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Originally Posted by Lllahim
What is the big deal about manual plating? The food won't taste any better. Hygiene can be uneven something the oven managed much better. Now, portions may be uneven as well. Bigger and better for FA favourites. Invisible for me. Where is Tedgrrrr?
Have you heard of 'you eat with your eyes'? Better presentation makes the food much more appealing right off the bat.

As for portion size, each dish is one set of kit for the crew to plate. There's no favorites to play.

As for hygiene, and how exactly is this different than a restaurant?
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Old Oct 2, 2014, 3:56 pm
  #30  
 
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Originally Posted by Andrew Yiu
787 has steam ovens so it tends to cook the food better. You shouldn't see as much water in the dishes now with galley plating as the flight attendant is manually plating the dish so they are not going to pour the watery sauce onto the dish as well. We're not the only airline with that issue, I've seen similar on my flights on CX, BA in J - believe it has something to do with the ovens and the fact that the beef has to be pre-cooked (hence you see the piece of bread we put under the steak to absorb some of it). Hopefully with steam ovens and galley plating your beef will be better! Keep me posted on your experiences.
Will the 777 get steam ovens as well when they're refurbished?
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