Viennafly

I would like to report on the very slow meal service in C on my recent ZRH-MIA-ZRH flights.
On the outbound (ZRH-MIA): Times listed are times after take-off
30' aperitif (still quite OK)
1h10' appetizer+salad
1h45' main course
2h30' desert
Given that the flight is overday, I did not mind too much, other than I was starving and I was sitting in front of empty wine and water glasses all the time.

But on the return (MIA-ZRH), things advanced even slower:
1h aperitif
1h30' appetizer+salad
2h10' main course
2h45' desert
3h15' service finished and lights were switched off.
As this flight was only 8h, this left not too much of time to sleep. Given that the appetizer is cold and that the main courses only need to be warmed up, I do not really understand why the service was in both cases so slow. I always considered the LH meal service in C to be slow (which sometimes can also take up to 2h)
May I ask if this is a common experience on LX recently or just a bad performance of the crews in my case?

RTW1

Starving, really? And that just coming out of the lounge....

Did you even ask them to speed it up a little on the night flight?

Viennafly

I was not 'just coming out of the lounge'! Due to my late incoming feeder flight, I did not have the chance to go to the lounge at all.

Sure, this was already the speeded-up version.

red star

Of course not since the speed version comes all in one.

RTW1

Exactly..... and if you really want to sleep the whole flight, eat before coming on the plane.
But for a flight that takes 9 hours and leaves early in the evening it's not that bad. Who wants to sleep at 20:00.... And you can always decline breakfast.

LXA350

Outbound ZRH-MIA the time for the service is fully acceptable. There is no need to rush on a day flight. Whereas on the inbound MIA-ZRH flight service should really be completed maximum 2 hours after take off. Unfortunatelly the cabin crews at SWISS are not very consistent. You sometimes have great crews that work efficient on those short night flights such as from JFK where service should be done max 1 hour 30 after take off which is even shorter than from MIA and others that are just so slow, here there really is potential to improve SWISS.

RTW1

It's not really a night flight is it when you leave at 17:00 or 19:30... and if you want to sleep just order the reduced meal or eat before flying. Guess they started a little slow, but I also guess most people like to take their time since most are probably there for pleasure.

Just talk to the FA's, in my experience they normally give you what you want.

milesfixed

I agree with you Viennafly.

LX is my favorite airline but their service in Business is often too long and seems not well organized. The crew spend always a lot of time for galley preparation between first course and hot meal and even longer between hot meal and cheese/dessert.
The worst service is, in my opinion, the one before landing on flights to California, (and on some breakfast), when the crew prepare your meal in front of you. It often looks cheap. I miss the time when they had trays on those flights.

catandmouse

My experience is that LH is even slower than LX. Rarely takes less than 3 hours on LH long-hauls. I don't care too much on day flights when I don't want to sleep, though I would prefer not to have to wait 1 hour between courses and do something else.

swiss_global

In my experience LX is really the slowest of all major airlines. The OP's experience is quite normal for them.

While I agree to take some more time on day time flights, I usually have to do some work as well and would very much appreciate if they could limit the service to 2 hrs. On night time flights, it should be around 1 hr. Many airlines can achieve this with good service standards (AC, BA, KL, AB ...) or even with onboard chefs (TK, OS).

Fendant

The slow LX service TATL eastbound also found in First Class.
LH does a better job, but then you have to connect in FRAnkensteins Hell
OS is only an alternative if accept their crappy 767's

swiss_global

Well, as I mentioned there are quite a few alternatives. On the TATL route AC is actually my preferred one. They not only have reasonable service times, but also excellent flat seats. BA is another good one, IB is also full flat but slightly slower in service. In the "angled-flat but still reasonably quick service service" league are AB, KL, SK, ...

So really need to fly LX unless you have something major to celebrate and enjoy their dinner liturgy ...

deniah

No complaints today TATL westbound. They served it as fast as i could eat it. A male staffer seemed mute, and/or that he hated being there, but the rest of staff were very cheerful and friendly

EnvoyBoy

Completely agree re: AC. Am a regular flyer and meal service moves along quite quickly. Menus distributed on the ground and often meal orders taken (the jump around the cabin method) before takeoff. Given that the FA's then seem to disappear for the balance of the flight, they appear motivated to get the service over and the galley packed up.

LAX888

Maybe it depends on the departure time. As most US flights leave around dinner time it is ok to not have to rush it as one usually would not sleep at 7-8PM anyway. However I did notice that the wait between appetizers and main course is a bit longer than with other airlines.
However on a DXB-ZRH flight I took which is around 6h25min the snack service was finished within 30min after departure and the breakfast was served around 80 min before arrival. So it was not too bad. However the DXB flight departs at 1AM.
As I was planning on sleeping it was great for me but to be honest if one could not sleep on a plane the food for a C cabin was below average in quantity IMO.