PDX catering error
 

Flew BNA-PDX a week ago and no F meals were loaded at PDX for the return portion to PDX from BNA. It was all handled pretty poorly. Once we were in the air a Flight Attendant announced to the entire plane that there were no meals for First Class due to a catering error. As the FA came around to each passenger in F she said we should have gotten an announcement at the gate that F had no dinner and received a $20 voucher. I was in the BNA Admiral's Club until 10 minutes prior to boarding and I never heard any such announcement. When I explained that to the FA, she said I should have received a text message ahead of time. No, I did not. To their credit, the cabin crew did their best with few options. But it made for a bad first time impression on AS.

The return to BNA yesterday was pefectly normal. I did mention to a FA about the snafu on my earlier flight and she said something to the effect "Oh yeah catering can mess up sometimes".

Since this was my first time on AS into/out of PDX, I was wondering if catering errors are common there or if anyone else has experienced similar.

Good to know. I am on that flight in a couple of weeks. Its my first time flying Alaska. Its a late flight (leaving Nashville at 8 PM), so I will probably eat dinner before the flight. I ordered the cheese plate because I won't be really hungry anyway.

100k here, never experienced this personally, but I'm sure it happens sometimes. definitely not common as far as I know.

Strange that if they knew it before leaving the gate they didn't just correct it. Or, at a minimum, maybe give you some snack boxes, etc. Did they offer anything? (other than a credit which does no good wen in the air)

I've experienced a few problems here and there but nothing this bad.

Alaskalistens.com

They sometimes do ;)

(bolding added)

How would you expect them to correct it at the gate in BNA if the catering happens (and in this case didn't) in PDX? I assume there isn't a caterer in BNA that they could just call up at the last minute and order some Alaska meals if they never cater at BNA. So perhaps the crew could have bought some random sandwhiches from an airport restaurant or something, but that's probably the extend to which they could have improvised.

I would write it off as "stuff happens". Airplane meals, even on AS, aren't that great, and hopefully some food choices from Y were available to those who didn't get the message before the flight and could self-cater. The OP should just reach out to customer service retroactively and ask for the $20 that were supposed to be sent.

I always stuff myself at the lounge to the point that I more often than not ask for my F meal to be served just before landing.

I didn’t know AS (or others on domestic routes) would offer that flexibility.

PDX-based 100K here…never have had that happen that I can recall. Sounds like a one off mistake.

Just reread the OP and missed the part about it being loaded (not) on the outbound. I never realized they did it that way.... I've always been amazed they can fit all the meals for a single flight in the galley. Never dreamed they'd have space for an out and back. Yeah, I guess once that happens all they can do it try to communicate and it sounds like they dropped the ball.

Having been a small biz owner for years I was faced with customer service issues like this a lot and would just do what I had to. I'm sure there are a thousand reasons why this couldn't be done but I'd be tempted to run to a deli, fast food, etc. at BNA and grab food so at least I have something to give out.

It's pretty standard for most airlines to double cater flights, unless it's something like Hub-Hub, in which case sometimes flights will be single catered.

You'd be amazing how dense galley storage. I don't work for AS, so I can't speak to exacty how much stuff gets squeezed in, however at my airline. A half sized trolly fits 12 J class meals (both casseroles and the tray sets), plus a drawer of glasses, each oven (again, I dunno how big AS's casseroles are) can fit 14 casseroles.

A half sized Y class bar trolley fits 20 cans of pop, 40 Y class wine bottles (free beer and wine in Y at my airline), 20 Beer, 36 Minis, a drawer of Juice, drawer of snacks, with a spare drawer for water bottles (we only use bottled water)/napkins/whatever random stuff I think I'll need to save trips back and forth to the galley.

For reference a standard CRJ900 galley has room for 11 half trolleys (one being a garbage trolley) and 8 canisters, plus a number of built-in in cupboards for stuff like glasses, coffee pots etc.

Heck even a CRJ200 galley squeezes in 5 half trolleys and 3 cannisters.

I flew from OAK to SEA that they also failed to cater for coach. They had no pre-ordered snack boxes and a very limited selection of drinks- not even some basics like sparkling water. They had food service in First, but I was #1 on the waitlist when we departed. It's a short flight deal but it's disappointing when they can't fulfill a basic element of service on a day with no weather or mechanical snafus. I got $25 from Alaska Listens.

We just had this happen to us BUR-PDX. No food was loaded (either in coach or first) in PDX. Like you experienced, it was also handled poorly. 10 minutes before boarding, they announced there was no food. 5 minutes before boarding, they emailed vouchers. I literally ran to the one food stand at BUR, but they were unable to take the vouchers. I ended up paying out of pocket for a very expensive, terrible sandwich (as did most of my fellow F passengers).