Is this normal for flying in business?
 

We don't usually fly in business too often but have recently started doing so more and more. Usually I book pretty close to the front but due to a last minute change, on yesterday's flight with AF, we were in the last row of business.

For the first meal service, when they got to us, they said somebody had pre-ordered a special meal but obviously didn't take it or something, because they were out of the only meal choice and they were wanting to give me this special meal instead. I wasn't overly happy with this but they did manage to find a nearly identical meal, from premium economy I think (since there were no salt/pepper shakers and the salad was literally only lettuce).

For the second meal service, where there were three options, both my partner's and my preferred choice were out, so we had to go for one of the other options.

Is this a curse of flying in the last row of business, that they run out of options? I never had this happen before since I am usually at the front. I get they maybe can't take 30 of everything, but given how much we paid in cash for these tickets - it wasn't paid by employers or miles - it left a bit of a bitter taste, you could say!

Running out of an option if you're last to pick isn't unusual, in fact I'd kinda expect the most popular option to be gone by the time they got to the last people. Trying to give you someone else's special meal, that's very unusual and quite unacceptable.

It varies by airline, some will take orders and prioritise based on status, others will simply go from front to back (or reverse) and those last to order may miss out.

Also depends how much is catered. Some airlines will load meals close to the booked load, others much more.

At the end of the day, there is only going to be a finite amount onboard. I don't think any airline caters 100% of every meal choice in J, so if everyone orders one option some will miss out.

If there are nonrevs in the premium cabin, many carriers will give them last choice, often by prioritizing choices rather than explicitly and obviously taking their orders last.

Most airlines will at least slightly over-cater Business Class (the cost of a few extra main courses is nothing as to the cost of an irate customer), so I'm amazed that the OP's did not have at least one spare regular meal on board. Of course, the other thing that can happen is that a tray can be dropped which destroys several at once...

Yeah obviously for that first meal, they had the exact number of standard meals and no more, so no spares whatsoever once the one who took a special meal went for the standard! I am surprised they allowed him/her to do that. It wasn't a special meal in terms of being kosher/diabetic/etc, it was purely one of the different ones you can pre-order online.

Do airlines not use the FEBO system anymore? It's been a long, long while since I flew confirmed in a cabin with meal service, but I used to choose seats closer to the front of the cabin on even numbered flights and towards the back of the cabin on odd numbered flights as that was where meal service typically started and I was more likely to get my choice of meal.

not receiving meal/etc should result in real service recovery

CX reportedly will give meals to op-ups before paying pax

I think FEBO is(was) an AA procedure. I don't think other airlines use(d) it.

Some airlines still use that system, some always do front to back (and always have), some jump around by status or fare paid. AA used to use FEBO but has changed to a different system based on flight direction, but since I always preorder my meal now, it rarely matters.

For the OP's case, the crew messed up by not making the person who ordered the special meal order last if they didn't want the special meal.

This. The proper response to the pax who ordered the special meal but wanted to change should have been that they would have to wait until all other "regular" meal requests were made and if anything is left over, then accommodation could be made.

AF's handling this as described is very poor and worth a complaint to the airline. OP might also check out AF forum to see if this is common practice or perhaps what service recoveries the airline has in place for failures such as this.

Thanks. I sent an email to AF!

Exactly. It happens, but shouldn't. I would not get too bent out of shape (running out of champagne would be more serious), but I would complain and ask for compensation. It is like IFE being out in a seat (for which I was compensated about $200 recently, but they may offer miles, AF being a little strapped right now).

Or maybe they didn't fly. They ordered the meal but misconnected and the meal was loaded anyway while somebody was upgraded into the empty seat.

DL is supposed to use FEBO on domestic narrow body flights. Sometimes they actually do it.

On many flights, in addition to the business class meals, there are meals catered for the crew. Depending on the circumstances, a good purser can use some of the crew meals to switch around and divide the food so that a premium cabin passenger gets something acceptable. It's not ideal, but sometimes they can re-plate a coach meal and make it look not so bad. Soup, dessert and cheese shouldn't be a problem and depending on the nature of the special meal, the appetizer and salad could be the same as the regular offering or even better.