C W

I've flown AF the least of AF, DL, and KL but I still fly about 10 TATL per year between them. I have never had a palatable meal on AF, including ex-CDG. KL is usually palatable but unpleasant, and DL is usually quite good. They usually have fresh salads, excellent chicken mains with rich sauces and vegetables like wilted spinach, and even remarkable appetizers like shrimp cocktail on some routes. And DL crushes AF and KL if you drink liquor. I don't pay much attention to the desserts as I dislike sweets.

I'm a little befuddled myself by it honestly. I love french food and am not at all picky in general. I usually devour airplane food regardless of cabin. Maybe somebody can tell me if my AF experiences are typical.

Here are some examples, both are meals I had this February. One is Delta ex-ATL. There was a salad with vegetables and vinaigrette to start, a nice pretzel roll, shrimp cocktail, a chicken main with 1 large intact piece of chicken, tomato sauce, some kind of puree vegetable, and I'm not sure what the balls of grain/starch were, but they had some bite and went very well with the sauce. Also a brownie and some cheese slices and crackers that are hidden.



This AF one is ex-CDG. The salad thing was inedible. I don't know what the sauce was, but it was extremely heavy and overwhelmed the diced cucumber(?). Small piece of bread that any french person should be ashamed of. The main is the worst offender. Some horrible mix of prison cafeteria slop and frozen tv dinner. Tiny chunks of chicken in a flavorless, identity-less sauce with insipid potato puree. The brownie was probably objectively better than Delta's, again I don't like sweets. Note the abysmal presentation of everything. Don't be fooled by the water bottle. It is tiny and in the picture it makes the food portions look bigger. Look at the tray table to confirm this. Delta probably serves at least 50% more food.



Here is another AF one, ex-LAX. Salad is much better, by far the best part of the meal, at least if you like beans. Similarly offensive bread. Main is even worse, similar slop chicken but with even more insipid white rice. Can't remember the dessert, let's assume it was fine. And then a tiny cup of water... seriously? Can't even manage a mini bottle on this 11 hour flight? And finally apple juice, appropriate food for toddlers perhaps, but not really as part of a standard airline meal. Honestly, excepting the salad, this thing seems like a medical bland meal, not a normal meal.



These are the two I could easily pull of pictures of, but they reflect my AF experiences in general.

A note about my whining about the bread. I'd always prefer proper french bread to softer, sweeter American breads, and as a result eat very little bread when I'm back in the states. But I prefer the softer DL bread on an airplane because it holds up much better and is more edible by the time it is served than the horrific bαstαrdizαtion that AF serves as Y bread.

Are my experiences really exceptional, or do people like this slop? I'm genuinely curious.

Milkman

I dont think anyone likes slop :-)

I'm based in PTY nowadays with 3 options to my usual end destinaton in Europe (CPH), LH, AF and KL. Between the three of them I find AFs food offering to be quite superior. I'm also not a big fan of aviation food in the first place but I have found AFs catering to be consistently good over the years. I dont think I ever downright rejected an AF meal. My DL long haul flights date a few years back so catering could have gotten better in the meantime, but what I have been served on recent shorter flights like ATL-PTY or KIN-ATL has not impressed me, neither by quality or size (granted, catering policies are different on shoter international flights).

C W

Do you meals typically look like the ones I posted?

I'm still confused about the mismatch between our experiences

You'll definitely get very different DL Y meals TATL or TPAC rather than to PTY or KIN.

RabbitIYH

I'm confused then because whenever I have asked for alcohol to/ from a US destination once the aircraft was into US airspace, in Y or J, I have always been told by the crew that they were not allowed to serve me because of US laws. I always thought this was because of the duty AF refuses to pay but happy to be corrected and get a definitive answer on the matter

C W

Airspace is irrelevant.

I'm not a lawyer but generally the laws of the registration country of the plane apply in flight. When on the ground the laws of that country apply, thus duty for champagne on the ground in certain countries.

Doesn't matter what you're flying over. No problem serving alcohol overflying Saudi Arabia for example.

Any crew that uses such an excuse is lazy. AF is cheap for not stocking enough alcohol.

MsAssertive

Interesting to see another passenger had the same impression I did regarding AF vs DL. I typically fly DL to Italy once per year and in the past, it has either been DL or AZ operated flights. I had the opportunity to book AF from CDG-JFK this fall on the A380 and scored seats in PE (upper deck!) which was on my bucket list. I was very disappointed in both the food and service on AF. Luckily, I had purchased two large bottles of water at CDG so I didn't have to stop on the way to my NYC hotel. I ended up drinking both because each time I approached the galley for a beverage, I was discouraged by either the flight attendants not wanting to be interrupted or a completely empty galley. My future flights will definitely be on DL!

C W

Glad it's not just me! I was starting to think I was going crazy

Brining water on an AF flight is essential, good planning!

Very sad to hear you had such an experience even in PE.

Beltway2A

Definitely not just you. I refuse to fly AF these days for similar reasons, though my experience with KLM doesn't match yours. Even in Y I've found the wine to be free-flowing and the meals, while still tasting like airplane food, to be pleasant.

Milkman

My last flight on AF to the US must have been in 2013 so what they serve nowadays I am not experienced in. Since 2013 I've only flown them to MEX (my former home) and PTY - these are both 11+h flights and it may have a say in quality, amounts and drinks availablity (which I never had a problem with either). Food has always been good, especially ex-CDG, and drink/snack availabilty impeccable.

C W

Can you describe some of these meals? Do they look like the ones I posted? Do you have pictures? Mine are both from 11+ hour flights.

Milkman

I don't have pictures and to be honest I dont remember what I last ate in Y on AF. I will fly them on PTY-CDG in 2½ weeks however, and will try get some pictures and take some notes (it will be in Premium Economy though, so the starter will be from the J cabin)

LY777

Thanks for the link.
I will try to fly DL next time I fly to the US, AF has disappointed me.

mlin32

I haven't flown a US-carrier overseas in 11 years (based on mediocre experiences on UA years back), but I find AF to be one of the more pleasant carriers in Y. I strongly dislike their 10-abreast Boeings, but the service and food have been agreeable in every instance each time I've flown them in the past few years- I don't think I've ever gone hungry/thirsty on my TATL flights- certainly better than LH. I like the A380 upper-deck cabine a lot too

skyhighlander

I fully agree and it all sounds too familiar! I base my long haul economy choices on the types of aircraft, so obviously whether flying alone or with a companion Delta's A330s & 767s predominantly used on TATL are unbeatable here, but even if you forget about this advantage I find Delta's serivce and offer far, far more superiour than what Air France provides. Entertainment, staff, frequency of service (those "water runs" in the middle of the night), and recenlty - even food.

KLM's crew are ok to good I guess. I'm a really down to earth guy so as long as I get what I paid for I don't need to be attended to, called by name or whatever some "elite flyers" expect these days, so KLM works fine for me. More often than not I actually prefer to be left alone. But after few years of flying AF I have really come to dislike their staff and their "do the bare minimum" attiutude towards the job turned out to be too much even for me. Sometimes it actually looks as if they're playing a "who collects more empty cups without making an eye contact with the passengers" game. So from where I sit, the sooner they get "jooned", the better.

I like and will fly their 777 new business class, I'd love to try LA Premiere one day, but other than that I avoid them when I can.

The only thing that annoys me about Delta is the "interrogation" part of the check-in when flying to States, but I know they can't help it and from what I hear this is gonna be implemented across the board now anyway, so it will no loger make a difference.

caliform

I found both AF's economy and business services lacking in food and general soft product quality; DL is doing a lot of work to make theirs better. It'd be great if KL and AF would learn.