2018 Let's Eat - United First, United Business, & Premium Transcon Service
Jan 13, 2018, 6:39 am
#31
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Join Date: Jun 2005
Posts: 57,524
Catering Ops seems to be a revolving door lately. Let's see what change this brings.
Excerpt of announcement passed to Inflight:
Chief Customer Officer and Global Customer Service Delivery SVP Tracy Lee announced on Tuesday that Charlean Gmunder is joining our leadership team as VP of Catering Operations.
Charlean brings a wealth of experience from her 30 years in the food service industry, a career that has spanned manufacturing, operations, supply chain management and global logistics at companies like PepsiCo and the Wrigley Company. In particular, her strengths lie in implementing continuous improvement strategies and organizational goal setting, two areas that will benefit us in our quest to provide the highest-quality food and beverage experience to our customers.
“In our search for a new vice president, we looked for someone who could lead an organization in its short-term and long-term objectives, and I’m excited to say that we found that person in Charlean,” said Tracy. “She’s someone who looks not only at immediate success but is very deliberate in looking ahead and planning for what’s to come.”
Charlean’s first day with the airline will be January 22
Excerpt of announcement passed to Inflight:
Chief Customer Officer and Global Customer Service Delivery SVP Tracy Lee announced on Tuesday that Charlean Gmunder is joining our leadership team as VP of Catering Operations.
Charlean brings a wealth of experience from her 30 years in the food service industry, a career that has spanned manufacturing, operations, supply chain management and global logistics at companies like PepsiCo and the Wrigley Company. In particular, her strengths lie in implementing continuous improvement strategies and organizational goal setting, two areas that will benefit us in our quest to provide the highest-quality food and beverage experience to our customers.
“In our search for a new vice president, we looked for someone who could lead an organization in its short-term and long-term objectives, and I’m excited to say that we found that person in Charlean,” said Tracy. “She’s someone who looks not only at immediate success but is very deliberate in looking ahead and planning for what’s to come.”
Charlean’s first day with the airline will be January 22
Jan 13, 2018, 4:46 pm
#32
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DCA
Programs: AA Plat Pro, UA Silver, DL Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,851
Breakfast
TPA-ORD
13 JAN 2018
A320, Seat 3A
Described (seemingly accurately) as a kale, cheese, tomato, and egg white tart. Blueberry Greek yogurt and fruit. Moscow mule to drink.
Cool view of Chicago on approach
Good flight with good, attentive crew. They were considerate enough to close the galley curtain which is something I don't see often. I thought UA did meals by status? I'm a 1K on a match challenge and didn't get asked early and orders were simply front to back, which was my experience on EWR-ATL last month as well. Not that it mattered as everyone seemed to get their choice, including me in the last row.
Also I love those seats on the 320s. Tons of storage and nice finishes. Really great design imo.
TPA-ORD
13 JAN 2018
A320, Seat 3A
Described (seemingly accurately) as a kale, cheese, tomato, and egg white tart. Blueberry Greek yogurt and fruit. Moscow mule to drink.
Cool view of Chicago on approach
Good flight with good, attentive crew. They were considerate enough to close the galley curtain which is something I don't see often. I thought UA did meals by status? I'm a 1K on a match challenge and didn't get asked early and orders were simply front to back, which was my experience on EWR-ATL last month as well. Not that it mattered as everyone seemed to get their choice, including me in the last row.
Also I love those seats on the 320s. Tons of storage and nice finishes. Really great design imo.
Jan 13, 2018, 5:50 pm
#33
Join Date: Dec 2008
Location: Chicago IL US
Programs: UA 1K; National Executive Elite; Hertz PC & Hotels Galore
Posts: 946
You have observed correctly - orders are taken front to back and then prioritized by status in the galley per policy. There are several threads on the topic.
Jan 13, 2018, 6:44 pm
#34
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Houston
Programs: UA GS 2.6MM & Lifetime UC, Qantas Platinum, Hilton Lifetime Diamond, Bonvoy Platinum, HawaiianMiles
Posts: 8,682
Cheeseburger on IAH-LAX dinner flight. Cheese was Swiss ^
Jan 13, 2018, 10:07 pm
#35
Join Date: Oct 2005
Location: BUR
Programs: in C/C++, Python, SQL
Posts: 342
01/09/2018
UA1148
EWR-LAX
Same menu as post 11. I had wanted something eggy, but am not a mushroom fan, so went with the cinnamon waffle instead. Ended up being quite good.
The pre-arrival chicken wrap in plastic was as expected. Kinda hard to get too excited about that.
UA1148
EWR-LAX
Same menu as post 11. I had wanted something eggy, but am not a mushroom fan, so went with the cinnamon waffle instead. Ended up being quite good.
The pre-arrival chicken wrap in plastic was as expected. Kinda hard to get too excited about that.
Jan 13, 2018, 10:20 pm
#36
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Would also note that her LinkedIn shows that she received her BS in Chemical Engineering from Rutgers and has 3 patents related to her work at Wrigley.
Also looks like she'll now be moving from a production base across Canada to one that's obviously worldwide.
David
Also looks like she'll now be moving from a production base across Canada to one that's obviously worldwide.
David
Jan 13, 2018, 10:25 pm
#37
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Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,451
This was what I was able to find
Charlean Gmunder is Vice President, Manufacturing, Prepared Meat for Maple Leaf Foods. In
this role, she is responsible for eleven prepared meat manufacturing plants located throughout
Canada. Charlean has over 30 years of global manufacturing experience in the food industry
including beverages, confectionery, food ingredients, meat processing, and produce. While
Charlean started her career with Pepsi Cola Bottling Company, a large portion of her career was
spent with the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in a variety of leadership roles in Manufacturing,
Engineering, Quality Assurance, Logistics, and Sales. As President of the wholly-owned
subsidiary, L. A. Dreyfus Company, Charlean was also responsible for global gum base
operations for the Wrigley Company. Subsequent to this, Charlean has held leadership
responsibilities in both large multinationals and smaller North American food processing
operations. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for Uncle Charley’s Sausage.
Charlean Gmunder is Vice President, Manufacturing, Prepared Meat for Maple Leaf Foods. In
this role, she is responsible for eleven prepared meat manufacturing plants located throughout
Canada. Charlean has over 30 years of global manufacturing experience in the food industry
including beverages, confectionery, food ingredients, meat processing, and produce. While
Charlean started her career with Pepsi Cola Bottling Company, a large portion of her career was
spent with the Wm. Wrigley Jr. Company in a variety of leadership roles in Manufacturing,
Engineering, Quality Assurance, Logistics, and Sales. As President of the wholly-owned
subsidiary, L. A. Dreyfus Company, Charlean was also responsible for global gum base
operations for the Wrigley Company. Subsequent to this, Charlean has held leadership
responsibilities in both large multinationals and smaller North American food processing
operations. She currently serves on the Advisory Board for Uncle Charley’s Sausage.
Jan 13, 2018, 11:11 pm
#38
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Jan 11, IAH to MCO Dinner
Jan 14, 2018, 10:39 am
#39
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Jan 14, 2018, 10:42 am
#40
Join Date: Mar 2012
Programs: Mileage Plus 1K; Marriott Platinum; Hilton Gold
Posts: 6,355
Jan 14, 2018, 12:58 pm
#41
Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: LAX
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Posts: 6,846
I traveled from EWR-LAX in Premium Transcon yesterday with lunch service. I was seated in the business class cabin in a window lie flat seat. The flight attendant would only hand me my food and would not place it on the tray table. When I asked why, the flight attendant stated it's a new company directive not to lean over any passengers. Is this something that you've encountered?? Mind you, I was seated errect.
There were no short ribs or chicken available when they came to my seat and my only choice was the kale lasagna which was pretty good(once they reheated it to proper temperature)and they gave me a hamburger from the back as well. Overall service was extremely lackluster and I don't know if this is the specific agents directive or if this is something corporate wide ? I really want to write in on this one because the agent was so matter-of-fact.. thanks and safe travels
There were no short ribs or chicken available when they came to my seat and my only choice was the kale lasagna which was pretty good(once they reheated it to proper temperature)and they gave me a hamburger from the back as well. Overall service was extremely lackluster and I don't know if this is the specific agents directive or if this is something corporate wide ? I really want to write in on this one because the agent was so matter-of-fact.. thanks and safe travels
Jan 14, 2018, 1:02 pm
#42
FlyerTalk Evangelist
Join Date: Aug 2015
Posts: 11,451
I traveled from EWR-LAX in Premium Transcon yesterday with lunch service. I was seated in the business class cabin in a window lie flat seat. The flight attendant would only hand me my food and would not place it on the tray table. When I asked why, the flight attendant stated it's a new company directive not to lean over any passengers. Is this something that you've encountered?? Mind you, I was seated errect.
There were no short ribs or chicken available when they came to my seat and my only choice was the kale lasagna which was pretty good(once they reheated it to proper temperature)and they gave me a hamburger from the back as well. Overall service was extremely lackluster and I don't know if this is the specifics agents directive or if this is something corporate wide ? I really want to write in on this one because the agent was so matter-of-fact.. thanks and safe travels
There were no short ribs or chicken available when they came to my seat and my only choice was the kale lasagna which was pretty good(once they reheated it to proper temperature)and they gave me a hamburger from the back as well. Overall service was extremely lackluster and I don't know if this is the specifics agents directive or if this is something corporate wide ? I really want to write in on this one because the agent was so matter-of-fact.. thanks and safe travels
Jan 14, 2018, 1:14 pm
#43
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I think I instinctively 'meet halfway' and reach for the tray from a window seat, but I can't recall ever having the tray set down on my table for me. It seems like a long way for the FA to lean to place the tray on the window seat table directly, and I could understand a directive not to do it, so as to avoid risk of tripping over the aisle passenger's feet or wobbling something off the tray while extending.
Jan 14, 2018, 1:23 pm
#44
Join Date: Aug 2008
Location: DCA, IAD (not BWI if I can help it)
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Posts: 1,480
UA 762 IAD-IAH, 1/7/17
767-300, breakfast
Upgrade cleared about 40 minutes after I'd checked in the day before, so I could start the year with a 100% CPU rate. (Spoiler alert: I have not been able to maintain that average.) Breakfast choices were an ham, egg and cheese sandwich or oatmeal with fresh fruit; since I'd had oatmeal in the UC an hour earlier, the sandwich was the obvious choice. It arrived left open, which was not the most appetizing look--a disc of ham on the left, a disc of a well-fried egg on the right. But it's hard to screw up a pork-egg-cheese combination, especially when served on some flaky and most likely butter-laden bread, and I did eat every bite of it. The lie-flat nap I had afterwards was also delicious.
767-300, breakfast
Upgrade cleared about 40 minutes after I'd checked in the day before, so I could start the year with a 100% CPU rate. (Spoiler alert: I have not been able to maintain that average.) Breakfast choices were an ham, egg and cheese sandwich or oatmeal with fresh fruit; since I'd had oatmeal in the UC an hour earlier, the sandwich was the obvious choice. It arrived left open, which was not the most appetizing look--a disc of ham on the left, a disc of a well-fried egg on the right. But it's hard to screw up a pork-egg-cheese combination, especially when served on some flaky and most likely butter-laden bread, and I did eat every bite of it. The lie-flat nap I had afterwards was also delicious.
Jan 14, 2018, 1:28 pm
#45
Join Date: Jul 2011
Location: DCA
Programs: AA Plat Pro, UA Silver, DL Silver, Marriott Titanium, Hilton Diamond
Posts: 1,851
Forgot to mention, missed the upgrade ORD-PHL by one. So I ended up in the exit row aisle I had selected. Snack cart came by before the beverage cart and was addressed by name by the FA and proactively offered a premium snack. Then he did the beverage for my row too and when he delivered my Moscow Mule, he proactively asked if I'd like a water to go with it.
Talked to the Twitter team about how great he was and they said they were drafting an email. Guy was truly top notch in that albeit short interaction; service I wouldn't even expect in F/J on an American carrier. I hope it gets to him.
Is there any official way for elites to submit compliments?