GoAmtrak

"Miniscule" is by definition a marginalizing term. That's not agreeing to disagree, that's simply pretending the sizable minority population of vegetarians is invisible. Between the many adherents to various diets in the professional classes these days (who do not fit a neat demographic stereotype), and the large volume of ex-Asia connecting pax at hubs like SFO, it's myopic to downplay this market.

UA should be applauded for serving whatever it was, be it paneer or tofu, for the very reason of realizing that vegetarians are relevant. (I say that as someone who does eat some meats, but will very often seek out the veg option.)

Shame on the FAs who can't be bothered to RTFreakingM. The approach on your flight might have simply been the FA's attitude perpetuating lack of interest in this new option.

And maybe the EWR-SAN crowd was never bound to order tofu, but let's be honest: Does anyone board a plane hoping to eat beef with hoisin sauce, puck-shaped eggs with a scorched tomato, off-brand Hot Pockets with a side of bread, or any of the other questionable meals UA has considered edible?

Long story short, credit where it's due for testing new items. The shaming of quinoa/feta/tofu/anything "exotic" is ridiculous.

bocastephen

That's not a menu/catering problem, that's a staff/service problem.

qukslvr619

I wasn't on your flight but I am pretty certain the FA probably lifted the foil, saw the white chunks and assumed it was tofu rather than actually read the packing sheet. Since you mentioned salmon and chicken, I asked someone to look at meal rotations and the three choices on that flight were supposed to be the folowing:
chicken breast with mustard sauce and rice
salmon with lemon herb sauce and quinoa
shahi paneer with basmati rice

The 3rd option is either ravioli, paneer, or vegetable gyoza

qukslvr619

What's even worse is that they have created detailed descriptions and pictures of the new options available internally. Though what incentive does anyone have after a 3-day trip to sit down log into a computer, and read about inflight service changes?

How many different descriptions were offered for the dreaded calzone, bouquet, wrap, pizza bread, stromboli? And furthermore whenever anyone wants to know ingredients due to allergies, other dietary restrictions, I have heard numerous flat out lies...oh no there is no pork in that dish, or no there is no seafood in the salad. This isn't rocket science....foil trays with labels/descriptions that get heated up and dumped onto a plate. Not trying to undermine the role of FA's here but when you go to a restaurant and want to know what your eating, they check with the cook. UA has provided the FAs with resources to know whats in the food....sure they can't prepare it to everyones liking but they sure can be informed about what they are serving.

JVPhoto

They don't get any of those print outs or info from catering when things are loaded?

When I was in the galley on LX they had a bunch of things taped up about the options, plating, etc. (Yes, yes I know it's LX and not UA).

channa

What computer? It is on a print-out on the plane. They don't have to do anything but read what's on the paper that is provided to them.

Then again, I can understand why some don't bother with it. After all, nearly half the staff have been told how great they are for the better part of the last two (2) decades. So it's possible that some think they're too good to have to read the piece of paper that comes with it.

dcutcher

Apart its involvement with (what I gather is ) the laudable Trotter program which I view as a charitable endeavor on the part of UA,

http://www.chicagotribune.com/busine...429-story.html

I question whether any chef, even one ranked as "top level" is NECESSARILY qualified to design cuisine that can handle the mistreatment that airline food, consumed at altitude, seems destined for---the 24 hour stay in the chiller, the vagaries imposed by flight delays, mid-meal service interruption due to air turbulence, when FAs are ordered to sit down, the bubbly that goes flat minutes after being opened, etc., etc.

"It remains to be seen..."

qukslvr619

I'm referring to the fact that there are webpages specifically on the UA intranet with meal, beverage, and other inflight service parameters which are posted/linked/referenced in memos to all flight attendants.

Previously on pmCO international/business first flights, FAs were provided with GAB (galley attendant briefing) sheets. However these were never provided on domestic flights nor was there really any sort of reference to what the meal details, rotations, ingredients, etc which is why half the time the FAs didn't know what they were serving

This recently changed in that domestic F offerings/menus (during the refresh) were posted internally for FAs to review for awareness but as far as I am aware they are not printed and placed on the aircraft when they load meals. There are meal codes and descriptions ( something like for example CHKN w RCE SAUSGE BEANS it's truncated) but not in any way detailed like the international GABs or chef tips as they are now called.

Always Flyin

In my book, 3.2% of anything is a marginal amount.

Yes, I know vegetarians think they are important and relevant, but they aren't. They are a very, very small fraction of the U.S. population.

The days of U.S. airlines providing special meals ended. If vegetarians want to eat a non-mainstay vegetarian meal, just like all other niche groups (e.g., halal or Kosher food), they should bring their own.

It is silly to load a main course that 0 for 20 ordered.

I have no idea what that means.

Perhaps they will have goat on the next flight. I like goat. I will presume most Americans do not.

Having a main course on an airplane that no one will order is not noteworthy. It's silly and a bad business decision.

Could very well be.

JVPhoto

If the FA had accurately described it as an Indian vegetarian dish I'm pretty sure people would have ordered it. I would have. So we are upping the anti here at 5% now!

It's interesting that you seem to have it out for vegetarians and somehow are using UA's on board meals and potential FA mix up to tell them to pound sand.

channa

The FA on my flight last month had a printout with descriptions for each. I didn't notice any photos.

It's possible she printed them beforehand, but I got the sense that it was with her paperwork. She was clearly reading the descriptions, and they were elaborate.

It would be a shame for UA to go through this sort of effort and not provide descriptions to the staff serving the dishes. After all, tens of thousands of customers each month have had their first class food removed so that they could move to these standards.

Always Flyin

Perhaps.

Not at all. My problem is with UA's "improved" meal service. I didn't find it improved at all.

It is also a poor business decision to cater a meal choice that will be ordered by so few (zero on my flight, which admittedly could have been due to the poor description by the F/A).

I couldn't care less if someone is a vegetarian or not. I do have a problem when a miniscule group seeks special treatment. That is not related just to vegetarians, although that's who jumped in here.

WineCountryUA

The 2008 article is a bit dated, newer articles / surveys tend to be 5% (in 2011) {and given that growth rate likely higher today} and estimated 3x will eat vegetarian on a regular basis (such as my spouse, I'm a strict carnivore). Getting well out of the miniscule range. There have regularly been a vegetarian choice when there is a meal choice -- not sure why this is notable.

Always Flyin

We are not going to reach any agreement on the numbers. With the surveys you cited, I would be vegetarian for a third of my meals since breakfast consists of cereal, milk and fruit. When I have pasta for dinner, I guess I am a vegetarian there too.

What I do know is that I don't see a huge number of vegetarian restaurants opening compared to non-veg restaurants.

The meal was described to me as tofu. Even paneer is not a mainstream dish in the U.S. There are vegetarian dishes with far broader appeal (e.g., pasta). It is notable because of the poor choice made by UA to include tofu/paneer on its menu. Those choices are not going to have broad appeal. On my flight, they had zero appeal.

WineCountryUA

probably not
nope the article had clear criteria
And yes, an even larger group of 1/3 does includes occasional vegetarians -- but that is not the group under discussion.

Guess that depends on where you live -- SF Bay Area, DC, NYC, .... easy to find many vegetarian options and more every day.

As far as pasta vs tofu, even vegetarians probably like a little variety.

The data clearly show those wanting vegetarian options is clearly larger than miniscule. As to if tofu is the best choice or if the FA made it sound attractive, that's a different discussion.