No matter what airline I'm flying and no matter what class I'm in, I always carry some nuts and a couple of tasty "health bars" and I generally pick up some kind of muffin or the like at the airport. It's amazing how often, over many years, I've been really happy to have something to eat when there were problems of one sort or another. And a bottle of water.

BA 179 1st Jan. I had cheeee for dessert and then asked 'if you have any left' for a second lot which was shortly delivered.

I'm not sure any First Class galley would have room for 70 main course meals though.

Maybe that's why so few airlines have F cabins with 14 seats.

BA has been saving money by cutting back on catering for years -- first reducing meal service on Sleeper Flights until they got too many complaints -- then whacking Club Kitchen. I remember being at a GGL/CCR dinner a few years back and a banker from Bermuda was complaining that the FAs wouldn't take the orders from his children - presumably pre-teen - until all the adults had their first picks as there isn't enough choice for everyone. The BA exec pivoted and started talking about the tremendous amount of wasted food and how BA was trying to be corporately responsible by cutting the waste. Another guest told the BA exec "do it with your money, not mine" which got quite a laugh.

On our LHR to SFO flight last week the crew were being very proactive in offering first choice to high status passengers. For example, on an almost full 772 in J they had only 5 tomato and mozzarella salads in the second meal service, and ran out a third of the way down the cabin, leaving just the salmon. They ran out of first choice starters, main courses and desserts on the first meal run. I was at the rear of the cabin; by the end of the meal there were some distinctly unimpressed passengers.

To be fair the crew were excellent, but it looked very shoddy.

I don't think it has anything to do with the number of seats. Any airline will try to minimize the wastage. Lufthansa now serves business class meals (with some differences) in first class for departures from the USA, probably to minimize costs and to reduce wastage. That way, with a larger pool of pax, everyone in first class will get their first choice. I think airlines have become good at predicting how many particular meals should be loaded, and while it sucks to be on the receiving end when mishaps occur, such as with the OP, I think they are an exception rather than something that happens all the time.

Your posts have 0 credibility when you twist facts and try to pretend other airlines are cutting service in their premium classes to justify what BA is doing.


On appetizers - LH caters its trio of appetizers for the entire F cabin - so there is no effort to "minimize the wastage." What LH recently did when it made service changes to C is to give C pax a selection of 3 appetizers - one of them has been repetitive with F. Yes, you heard that - LH increased the food portions and choice in C. And of course LH has a caviar, salad, and soup course, plus amuse bouche and also a sorbet pallet cleanser in F.

It is only one main course that has been duplicated over the last two cycles- in both cases a pasta dish

LH Business Class menu ex US NE - Nov/Dec

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27400600-post1853.html

--Beef Short Rib Ossobuco Style with Heirloom Carrots, Brussels Sprouts, roasted Parsnips and Sweet Potato Puree
--Seared Shrimp, Scallops and New Mexico Chicken Sausage with seasoned Broccolini and Parisienne Potatoes
--Black Pepper Fettuccini, Red Swiss Chard, Cannellini Beans, grilled Baby Zucchini and Sunburst Squash

LH First Class menu ex US NE - Nov/Dec

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27400620-post1855.html

-- New Jersey Osso Buco served with Gremolata, Heirloom Carrots, Brussels Sprouts and Risotto with Asparagus and Porcini Mushrooms
-- New England Bouillabaisse
Poached Lobster, seared Shrimp and New Mexico Chicken Sausage, Spinach and Parisienne Potatoes
-- Black Pepper Fettuccini with Arugula Pesto, Red Swiss Chard, Cannellini Beans, grilled Baby Zucchini and Sunburst Squash
--Traditional Amish Turkey with Cornbread Chestnut Stuffing, Butternut Squash Puree and Cranberries

LH Business Class menu ex US NE - Sept/Oct

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27122993-post1843.html

-Seared Beef Filet, Chili Pepper and Ham Garbure, roasted Marble Baby Yukon Potatoes
-Lemon braised Atlantic Seabass, saut�ed Vegetable Medley, Basmati Rice
-Pumpkin Ravioli, Baby Zucchini, Tomatoes and Parmesan


LH First Class menu ex US NE - Sept/Oct

http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/27123003-post1845.html

- Seared Beef Filet with Black Garlic Clove Chili, Pepper and Ham Garbure, roasted Marble Baby Yukon Potatoes
-Fata Paper served: Lemon braised Atlantic Seabass, Star Anise and Fennel, saut�ed Vegetable Medley and Potatoes
- Pumpkin Ravioli, Baby Zucchini, Tomatoes and toasted Hazelnuts
- Apple lacquered Porkloin Chop, Apple Calvados Sauce, roasted Parsnips and Carrots, saut�ed Savoy Cabbage, Horseradish and Chive whipped Potatoes
Vegetable Wild Rice and Barley with Chicken

And I bet the beef doesn't come out looking like you could make a pair of boots with it.

Note to self: need to start flying LH again....

I am not twisting any facts. Please go over to the Miles & More forum and read about the menus in business and first classes over the past year. It seems that M&M members think that LH is cutting the service, but BA is the devil here for some reason. Cherry picking one menu does not really scream 'credibility' to me. In fact, had BA started offering business class meals in first I am sure it would have been labelled as an 'enhancement' and caused outrage here, while other airlines can get away with anything. I think offering business class meals in first, like U.S. based airlines, and now Lufthansa, do, makes sense as it offers more choice to the first class passengers, on the other hand, of course, it downgrades the meals for them as well.
Also, I was not trying to justifying BA. I think that any airline should load enough meals so that all passengers in first class would get their first choice. It is first class after all. Objectivity would help here me thinks. Fortunately, I have never been denied either my first choice of starter/main course or desert (I usually decline one), so I really hope that it is an exception rather than something that happens all the time.
P.S. My post really was not about whether LH has cut anything or whether it is better than BA. I merely pointed out that offering the same (or mostly) the same menus in business and first seems like an appealing option for airlines to ensure the first choice to first class passengers...or one way to do it.

My most recent & last CW flight I didn't fully enjoy the dessert, personal taste as others sure seemed to enjoy it, and the FA was nice enough to proactively offer the cheese course when she noticed I had only had a bit of it. The crew had been great from the moment I stepped aboard. Very friendly, professional and johnny on the spot when my wine glass was low.

Entirely correct on all of the above, including the fact it is now an F dish also offered in J (and not a J dish in F. Easy to verify as some appeared in previous rotations, then as F only).

Lufthansa is far from perfect, but it generally works hard to gets things spot on in the first-class department. Sure, things will go wrong, but very rarely in the provision and quality of meals.

My understanding is that when the airline increased the range of meals in business-class, it did so by including a limited of selection shared with the first-class menu.

The first-class menu has not been reduced or dumbed down by this measure, rather the business-class menu has been broadened.


Perhaps better not to traduce the service provided by other carriers in an attempt to gloss over BA's peculiar approach to onboard catering.



Didn't mean to join the crowd beating you up about this - didn't read the other responses before wading in.
So while we're covering Lufthansa and catering, I'll widen the field by noting that on yesterday's short hop between Frankfurt and Manchester in economy, I enjoyed a perfectly nice sandwich and a beer.

I think you need to get yourself on a longhaul Lufthansa service to find out what the actual service provision is, rather than relying on reports from the LH forum

LH food quality (in J and F) outstrips BA, considerably.

You made this statement before, which previously was also called out as being incorrect but you choose to repeat it - why post misinformation if you can't add to a discussion?

The Facts directly from LH menus

No cherry-picking two sets of LH menus on the routes you specified for two different periods - Sept/Oct and then Nov/Dec. show what you are posting is simply not true

Stop making things up!!! @:-)