ICN delays due to catering issue

Old Jul 16, 2018, 12:22 pm
  #31  
 
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Originally Posted by LennartH
I have seen this article but it seems like it is only relying on the information we all know and that is several days old.

Are there any recent first-hand experiences on an OZ flight without catering?
On TAS-ICN on July 15th, there was a little food in J. But the flight attendant didn't give out menus because there was not much food. It was either scrambled eggs or congee -- pretty strange meal for a 10something PM departure.

I'll be on ICN-JFK soon in J so I'll see if that has food.
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Old Jul 16, 2018, 7:29 pm
  #32  
 
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Originally Posted by lolairplanes
On TAS-ICN on July 15th, there was a little food in J. But the flight attendant didn't give out menus because there was not much food. It was either scrambled eggs or congee -- pretty strange meal for a 10something PM departure.

I'll be on ICN-JFK soon in J so I'll see if that has food.
Thank you for sharing your experience. Doesnt
sound too promising...

Were they still handing out vouchers to compensate?
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Old Jul 17, 2018, 10:38 pm
  #33  
 
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Originally Posted by lolairplanes
On TAS-ICN
Originally Posted by LennartH
Thank you for sharing your experience. Doesnt
sound too promising...
As I understood the problem, it's ONLY for flights departing from ICN (and maybe other Korean airports), not vv. So my guess is that for TAS-ICN, the poor food choices likely has to do with the catering at TAS, not the catering issue in Korea.
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Old Jul 18, 2018, 3:30 am
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Originally Posted by JoeDaejeon
As I understood the problem, it's ONLY for flights departing from ICN (and maybe other Korean airports), not vv. So my guess is that for TAS-ICN, the poor food choices likely has to do with the catering at TAS, not the catering issue in Korea.
But it certainly sounds like a mistake and not just bad catering as usual at some outstations. Breakfast at 10 pm?
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Old Jul 19, 2018, 2:00 am
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My guess is that Tashkent is an outstation, they cater the plane in both directions from ICN. Of course the only way to tell is what products they use on the plane....
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Old Jul 19, 2018, 9:13 am
  #36  
 
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Originally Posted by LennartH
Thank you for sharing your experience. Doesnt
sound too promising...

Were they still handing out vouchers to compensate?
I didn't get any voucher on TAS-ICN.

Originally Posted by JoeDaejeon
As I understood the problem, it's ONLY for flights departing from ICN (and maybe other Korean airports), not vv. So my guess is that for TAS-ICN, the poor food choices likely has to do with the catering at TAS, not the catering issue in Korea.
That's how I understood it too but on TAS-ICN, the FA told me that the menu was very limited due to the catering problems. I didn't get a menu and there were just the two limited items.

Originally Posted by LennartH
But it certainly sounds like a mistake and not just bad catering as usual at some outstations. Breakfast at 10 pm?
It was definitely related to the catering issues. As an FYI, I was on OZ222 ICN-JFK a few days ago and the food was pretty subpar as well. We did get a meal but there was no menu and it was a single course (no dessert, etc). The meal before landing (landing at night btw, like 9-10pm) was, once again, scrambled eggs or congee. Same exact catering source b/c I got scrambled eggs both times and it was identical.

On my ICN-JFK flight, I did get $100 in vouchers but they're pretty useless b/c you can only use them for duty free or purchases in person (you can't use them over the phone or on the internet). I don't live near an asiana office so I just bought some duty free stuff. But I was told the vouchers were because our flight was delayed 10 hours due to A380 availability problems, not catering. Overall, glad I'm not flying OZ on my next business trip to Asia in August, they're a mess.
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Old Jul 19, 2018, 11:23 am
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I have an OZ reservation for August and I am really thinking about rebooking to another carrier. Times and connections are perfect but if there is no proper catering, this really ruins the experience. So sad to see that even after more than two weeks they are not able to solve the problem.
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Old Jul 19, 2018, 7:22 pm
  #38  
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Originally Posted by lolairplanes
I was on OZ222 ICN-JFK a few days ago and the food was pretty subpar as well.
Ex-ICN business class meal was always subpar - both Korean and non-Korean options have been bad. Now served in a single tray, indeed there's no reason to take OZ over other carriers. Meanwhile economy class meal has been awesome and it is still good.

​​​​
Originally Posted by LennartH
I have an OZ reservation for August and I am really thinking about rebooking to another carrier.
Unless ex-ICN (and ex-TAS), you may stick with your original plan. I arranged ex-USA business class for my parents in August. Hopefully it's better than above poster's experience.
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Old Jul 20, 2018, 12:08 am
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Originally Posted by bobbybrown
Unless ex-ICN (and ex-TAS), you may stick with your original plan. I arranged ex-USA business class for my parents in August. Hopefully it's better than above poster's experience.
Its SGN-ICN-FRA in J, so the major part is ex-ICN. There arent so many one-stop options available, at least not as award, so Id really like to stick to it. But being a big fan of Korea and Korean food, I hoped for some decent meals.
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Old Jul 21, 2018, 12:47 am
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ICN-ORD 20 July. No menus. Choices ssambap or chicken breast. Ssambap all on one tray including 3 banchan, all quite edible. No dessert offered although there was some on coffee cart. 2nd meal omelette or abalone porridge. Porridge was good. So not normal, but not awful.
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Old Jul 23, 2018, 2:27 am
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Do they serve the usual choice of beverages?
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Old Jul 23, 2018, 10:18 am
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Originally Posted by LennartH
Do they serve the usual choice of beverages?
In my case (ICN-ORD), they did hand out a beverage menu that looked like the normal one. I didn't verify that everything on it was available, but I suspect yes or why would they hand out the menu without comment.
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Old Jul 24, 2018, 6:57 pm
  #43  
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Anyone have an update on this situation for the F cabin? I'm looking at a roundtrip BKK-U.S. in late August, and I'd love to do NH one way and OZ the other; but not if OZ doesn't have full catering? I could do OZ either ex-JFK or ex-ICN.
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Old Jul 24, 2018, 8:51 pm
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Safe bet? Do OZ ex-JFK.

Asiana is not going back to their previous in-flight meal provider (LSG Sky Chefs). Their new one (Sharp DO & CO) is in way over their heads in terms of capacity, and there is a contract with Asiana until Sept. 30th. Gate Gourmet Korea is not scheduled to be ready until Oct. Korean Air said publicly they would help, but privately said no. Asiana said "burritos in combo boxes along with yogurt, fruit, pudding and bread, this can be regarded as in-flight meals".
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Old Jul 24, 2018, 10:38 pm
  #45  
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Asiana chicken burrito is really good. Had it between meals on ICN-FRA in July 2017 and fell in love. May not appeal as a full meal, but I would eat Asiana burrito over other airline's regular meal any day. Its taste might have changed with the new catering company, though.
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