Traveller blasts airline for shocking meal: ‘What the hell?'
- Replies 15
The late Anthony Bourdain once said that you’d never catch him eating aeroplane food.
In an interview with Bon Appetit, the famed chef and travel documentarian said, ‘No one has ever felt better after eating plane food. I think people only eat it because they're bored.’
Traveller Alex Holowko definitely proved the wisdom of Bourdain’s statement when he ended up disappointed after ordering food during a flight from Scotland to Madeira in Portugal.
Was he bored? We can’t say for sure. But he did share the experience on the short-form video sharing app, TikTok. Watch the post below:
Holowko, who flew with the budget airline Jet2, ordered a sandwich roll on his flight. But while the in-flight menu had a delicious-looking photo of the meal, what he got was incredibly wanting.
Jet2 is a low-budget airline based in the United Kingdom.
On his TikTok post, Holowko showed followers the glossy ad featuring a sandwich brimming with egg and tomato filling. After a few seconds, he presents the lacklustre sandwich he received, which he described as ‘shocking’.
The video captioned ‘Food you should never eat on an aeroplane’ received over 1,700 likes from TikTok users and has been viewed over 64,000 times.
Many commenters, however, were not sympathetic to Mr Holowko’s plight. Usually, passengers who fly with budget airlines know not to expect exceptional food when they order.
‘’What do you expect? It’s a budget airline,’ a user named Ben said.
Another commented, ‘Honestly, someone complaining about aeroplane food?’
Someone named Allan asked, ‘Did you finish it, though?’
But one comment empathised with Holowko, saying, ‘Why is everyone so mad? You would've felt the same.’
Another TikTok user, Rachel, recommended doing something frequent flyers already knew: ‘That’s why I think it's best sometimes just to grab a meal deal from the airport to take on with you.’
While Jet2 allows flyers to bring food with them, its official policy prohibits hot meals. According to the airline’s FAQs on its website, passengers ‘may not bring hot food or hot drinks on-board the aircraft.’
Some reasoned that Jet2 was not to blame for Holowko’s experience.
‘I used to work for the catering company that supplies these sandwiches to multiple airlines,’ one user shared.
Another put the blame on the cooking and catering staff.
Jet2, in response to the TikTok video, released an official statement through a spokesperson: ‘We’re proud to deliver an award-winning experience from the moment people start their holidays with us, including our in-flight food and drinks.
‘Our in-flight meals and sandwiches consistently receive great feedback from customers, so we’d like to apologise to the customer for any inconvenience caused on this isolated occasion. We will look into this with our supplier.’
Mr Holowko was not the first to complain of airlines’ less than gourmand-quality food offerings. Complaints directed to easyJet and Ryanair also recently made their rounds on social media.
The internet is not lacking in horror stories concerning in-flight food. Thrillist even lists the most ‘regrettable’ grub ever served while flying, ranging from rice porridge with a texture similar to petroleum jelly to a sandwich with unappetising cucumber sticks, cheese and goo.
Are those dumplings swimming in a soup of rice? Credit: Flickr user gigijin/Thrillist
Do you order in-flight food, or would you rather take meals with you on the plane? We would love to know in the comments!
In an interview with Bon Appetit, the famed chef and travel documentarian said, ‘No one has ever felt better after eating plane food. I think people only eat it because they're bored.’
Traveller Alex Holowko definitely proved the wisdom of Bourdain’s statement when he ended up disappointed after ordering food during a flight from Scotland to Madeira in Portugal.
Was he bored? We can’t say for sure. But he did share the experience on the short-form video sharing app, TikTok. Watch the post below:
Holowko, who flew with the budget airline Jet2, ordered a sandwich roll on his flight. But while the in-flight menu had a delicious-looking photo of the meal, what he got was incredibly wanting.
Jet2 is a low-budget airline based in the United Kingdom.
On his TikTok post, Holowko showed followers the glossy ad featuring a sandwich brimming with egg and tomato filling. After a few seconds, he presents the lacklustre sandwich he received, which he described as ‘shocking’.
The video captioned ‘Food you should never eat on an aeroplane’ received over 1,700 likes from TikTok users and has been viewed over 64,000 times.
Many commenters, however, were not sympathetic to Mr Holowko’s plight. Usually, passengers who fly with budget airlines know not to expect exceptional food when they order.
‘’What do you expect? It’s a budget airline,’ a user named Ben said.
Another commented, ‘Honestly, someone complaining about aeroplane food?’
Someone named Allan asked, ‘Did you finish it, though?’
But one comment empathised with Holowko, saying, ‘Why is everyone so mad? You would've felt the same.’
Another TikTok user, Rachel, recommended doing something frequent flyers already knew: ‘That’s why I think it's best sometimes just to grab a meal deal from the airport to take on with you.’
While Jet2 allows flyers to bring food with them, its official policy prohibits hot meals. According to the airline’s FAQs on its website, passengers ‘may not bring hot food or hot drinks on-board the aircraft.’
Some reasoned that Jet2 was not to blame for Holowko’s experience.
‘I used to work for the catering company that supplies these sandwiches to multiple airlines,’ one user shared.
Another put the blame on the cooking and catering staff.
Jet2, in response to the TikTok video, released an official statement through a spokesperson: ‘We’re proud to deliver an award-winning experience from the moment people start their holidays with us, including our in-flight food and drinks.
‘Our in-flight meals and sandwiches consistently receive great feedback from customers, so we’d like to apologise to the customer for any inconvenience caused on this isolated occasion. We will look into this with our supplier.’
Mr Holowko was not the first to complain of airlines’ less than gourmand-quality food offerings. Complaints directed to easyJet and Ryanair also recently made their rounds on social media.
The internet is not lacking in horror stories concerning in-flight food. Thrillist even lists the most ‘regrettable’ grub ever served while flying, ranging from rice porridge with a texture similar to petroleum jelly to a sandwich with unappetising cucumber sticks, cheese and goo.
Are those dumplings swimming in a soup of rice? Credit: Flickr user gigijin/Thrillist
Do you order in-flight food, or would you rather take meals with you on the plane? We would love to know in the comments!
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