21. July 2025
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Food I Had Onboard XXIV (June 2025)

Florian Buechtingby Florian Buechting

Two trips to the United States, including my 6 US States and Nashville trip and a short hop to see a member of my Rock of Ages family again- that’s about what my June 2025 had in stock. Here is my review about inflight / onboard food and service for that month. I in fact started slightly earlier, in the last days of May 2025, with that post.

 

30th May 2025, British Airways BA 943, Dusseldorf (DUS) – London (LHR), Economy Class

My two trips to the United States in May and June gave me the hard side of traveling again: Premium Economy over the Atlantic Ocean, economy for the feeders. For the short flight to Heathrow, British Airways is granting you a small bottle of still water. If you have lounge access before and thereafter, it is just fine, I feel. All other food on offer is available for a nominal charge. I slept most of the flight, but overall, I felt the service on BA on that Friday morning was fine.

30th May 2025, American Airlines AA 47, London (LHR) – Chicago (ORD), Premium Economy

I generally prefer American Airlines over British Airways in Premium Economy due to their hardware and as the drink supply tends to be better. On the food side, you can’t really love the US-Americans – especially if you flew Turkish Airlines in Business Class just the weekend before. There was a selection of meat pasta and Chicken Korma. The Indian curry is one of my favorite dishes, so I went for that one. It was surprisingly cold. The rice was quite crispy, though. The salad was nice, but also not too special, the bread roll not heated. I can’t really tell you what the dessert was. I could call it a butter cookie with some very firm, chocolate-alike topping. No words about the creamy cheese and crackers to tick that box.

A highlight of the American Airlines catering is always the mid-flight ice cream, which was chocolate during my trip. There were a few drink rounds (a bit too few, maybe), but you could always help yourself in the galley as well. Quite exactly an hour before landing, you could choose between a salad and a toastie (never had something like that on a plane before, I feel…). I took the warm dish. Not really sure what the filling was, but together with the nice fruit (melon and pineapple) and the chocolate mousse dessert, it felt more filling than the main meal of the flight to me.

 

30th May 2025, American Airlines AA 5805, Chicago (ORD) – Evansville (EVV), Economy Class

Taxiing to the runway took as long as the in-fact flight from Chicago (ORD) to Evansville (EVV). The flight attendant on the E-145 was very friendly, but there was no inflight meal or drink.

 

3rd June 2025, Contour Airlines LF 3801, Muscle Shoals (MSL) – Charlotte (CLT), Economy Class

My outbound to Charlotte was driven by an E-135. The flight attendant was absolutely lovely. Contour delivered their typical meal service, a selection of hard pretzels or cookies and a full can of drink. I absolutely enjoyed that flight.

 

3rd June 2025, Contour Airlines LF 3804, Charlotte (CLT) – Muscle Shoals (MSL) , Economy Class

For the return flight, Contour Airlines went for an E-140. There were also a few more people onboard than in the morning. A real plus of Contour in Chicago (ORD) is that their gates are right at the beginning of the E-Gate section, so that the walking distance is really manageable. The service was in line with the outbound flight, a full can of drink and a bag of hard pretzels. Really good, regarding the price and the distance.

 

9th June 2025, American Airlines AA 3596, Evansville (EVV) – Chicago (ORD), Economy Class

We had to wait quite long in Evansville (EVV) for departure, caused by massive traffic (as usual) in Chicago (ORD). This time, I was sitting in the first row of Main Cabin Extra, right behind the Domestic First. A lovely seat with a lot of legroom. I can’t say that the crew was overwhelmingly charming. And: this time, there was a snack (pretzels) and a drink. Fun fact: while at least the Main Cabin Extra received cans, the Domestic First cabin just got cups of drinks (they may have alcohol, though…). I absolutely appreciated it, because I drank too little in Evansville before.

 

9th June 2025, American Airlines AA 46, Chicago (ORD) – London (LHR), Premium Economy

I wasn’t too happy with that flight. There were no water bottles at the seat and I also did not like the service attitude of the crew. Especially if they had issues with catering, I expect frequent drink rounds or at least drinks in the galley. There were also no snacks, in contrast to the outbound flight. The main meal was even worse than on the outbound. The selection was Chicken or Pasta? (what a shocker…), no further details. I had the chicken, which was a somehow spicy chicken with sides I can hardly describe. The salad and the cheesecake was quite nice, though.

Again, I liked the snack before landing more. It was served some 90 minutes before landing, i.e. earlier than on the daytime outbound. There was a choice of omelette and a fruit platter. The omelette was actually quite nice (or as nice as it gets in a plane…). The yogurt with cereals and the (warm) cinnamon croissant were good as well. I was also happy to get something to drink – apart from asking a flight attendant once in the flight, these were the only drinks I had after the main meal.

 

10th June 2025, British Airways BA 940, London (LHR) – Dusseldorf (DUS), Economy Class

I felt very weak during the flight. There was a small snack, but I did not really realize that the flight attendant was coming through the aisle. At least, I grabbed the small bottle of water, like on the outbound trip – which felt very valuable.

 

19th June 2025, British Airways BA 939, Dusseldorf (DUS) – London (LHR), Economy Class

The first flight towards Las Vegas was a short economy class hop from Dusseldorf (DUS) to London (LHR). London air traffic lead to some holds and delays – but overall, I loved the crew and the flight. Very friendly, good service – and this time I even got the biscuits to the small bottle of water.

 

19th June 2025, British Airways BA 275, London (LHR) – Las Vegas (LAS), Premium Economy

The ten hour flight to Las Vegas (LAS) started to write another story Heathrow (LHR) is simply writing too many of. The flight had a 90 minute delay on the ground as the jetbridge couldn’t be moved and it took ages to get a mechanic solving it. I did enjoy not having a neighbor in my World Traveler Plus class seat (which felt much more narrow than the American Airlines one before). However, I have to state that the crew did not handle the situation well. No water or similar after the welcome drink, also don’t care that the pilot is still patient after his long aviation vita.

Time to talk about food. The main meal was a selection of a traditional lamb and mint pie, sticky chili chicken and ricotta mezzaluna. Honestly, I was not too fond of any of the dishes, but gave the British option, served with bell pepper, broccoli and peas, a chance. I wouldn’t rate the meal being exceptional, but compared to the American Airlines one three weeks before, it felt like luxury. The only downside was that you have to take down the aluminium foil on the hot meal on your own. The salad was finally much better than it looked and the passion fruit panna cotta was a real treat. The meal also came with a 250ml water bottle. The fact that you are asked whether you want to have a drink additional to the water is almost disgusting – especially when you bear in mind that BA serves these tiny cans only.

Exactly one hour before landing, the crew served a light meal. The menu stated another bakery selection, which was not part of the tray. Therefor, there was some coleslaw. There should have been the choice between chicken anticucho and a vegetable picadillo (some sort of ragout) with rice, but chicken was out when they finally served me. The meal was okay. Having wooden cutlery and especially a very basic paper napkin really felt weird. The meal came with a chocolate brownie pot. By the way, there was not a single water or drink service between the meals. You could go to the very rear of the plane where the crew had some sort of party (one was even almost dancing) any time, but this was really bothering, especially from the rather front-of-cabin premium economy section.

I typically don’t mention other passengers here, but this time I just have to rant. Across the aisle from me, there were two young ladies who obviously belonged to the group. One of them had somehow self-upgraded her to premium economy class. The group, however, was spread over the whole plane, including all three cabins. There was a constant exchange between the cabins, including business class items being brought to premium economy. The crew should halt that behavior. It is not only very disturbing, but also highly irrespectful. I rather blame the crew than the passengers for that, though. The preparation for landing also felt rather chaotic. Overall, I felt this was a weak performance by British Airways – on one of the longest flights I will have in 2025.

 

22nd June 2025, American Airlines BA 5575, Las Vegas (LAS) – New York (JFK), Main Cabin Extra

I decided to optimize my flight towards sleeping. Nonetheless, I made the two drink services. One also came with a choice of cookies or pretzels. I chose the latter one. Due to the narrow space in the Boeing 737 MAX 8, I could not take pictures of the food provided. Nonetheless, I was really happy with the service provided by the staff onboard this more than four hour flight to New York (JFK). They were very friendly and attentive. The First Class meal did not look that overwhelming.

 

23rd June 2025, British Airways BA 176, New York (JFK) – London (LHR), Premium Economy

An equipment change on an earlier BA service as well as a medical issue on the pilot of my originally booked flight made me stay in New York City for one night. I flew back to Europe on Monday instead of Sunday. I had dinner in the Soho lounge, so that I skipped the dinner service. I ate the pretzels they provided beforehand during the flight and slept most of the time. I did get when they served food, which was some 1:40 hours after take-off – definitely too late for a night flight. Dinner was a selection of a beef pie, cajun chicken breat or rigatoni with mozarrella. My neighbor had the beef pie, which looked like a lasagna to me. The meal also had a vegetable salad and an American cheesecake, which I tried and enjoyed. Before landing, the crew served an egg and cheese bagel, which was actually a really nice breakfast snack. Again, I felt that in British Airways World Traveler Plus / Premium Economy, you should bring some drinks with you (which I did this time).

 

24th June 2025, British Airways BA 940, London (LHR) – Dusseldorf (DUS), Economy

I was quite tired now, flying back home to Dusseldorf (DUS). The space in economy was limited, but I overall liked the water and biscuit service by the crew. An absolutely solid flight. I simply had a strategy towards sleeping and getting back to Germany (on Monday) without a jetlag – which had now failed completely due to the one day delay.

 

28th June 2025, KLM KL 1786 (operated by German Airways), Dusseldorf (DUS) – Amsterdam (AMS), Economy Class

This post closes with four KLM flights I had the weekend thereafter, bringing me to Southampton (SOU) and back. From there I went to Brighton, watching a friend of mine at a musical. I was terribly tired from the intense week before. Nonetheless, I enjoyed the small bottle of water and the coconut cookie, which is suprisingly filling. The crew was really nice and also suffciently relaxed when a passenger was a bit too nervous about her connection to Paris (CDG). Overall, a really nice flight experience.

 

28th June 2025, KLM KL 1069 (operated by KLM Cityhopper), Amsterdam (AMS) – Southampton (SOU), Economy Class

From Amsterdam (AMS), I headed on to Southampton (SOU), this time operated by KLM Cityhopper. You simply don’t expect any surprises on these trips – and the KLM regional airline did not give me any. The crew was nice and the onboard food was – you guess it – water and a coconut cookie. A bit of surprising, though, that the water was this time served in a cup and not given as an entire bottle. An absolutely enjoyable ride.

 

29th June 2025, KLM KL 1072, Southampton (SOU) – Amsterdam (AMS), Business Class (op-up)

It’s been quite a while since I received an on-up on KLM. However, the absolutely packed flight from Southampton (SOU) made me move to the front of the cabin – and enjoy another of their meal boxes. To my surprise, the Embraer E175 gave me sufficient space to fold down the tray table and enjoy the box. The small teriyaki soba noodle salad with plant-based teriyaki beef was actually quite nice. I would not fall in love with the moon cracker, but KLM’s macrons were really nice. The service overall was okay, a bit on the slow side… But that was quite in line with how I felt myself.

 

29th June 2025, KLM KL 1805 (operated by German Airways), Amsterdam (AMS) – Dusseldorf (DUS), Economy Class

The last flight of the weekend – and of this post was the short hop back to Dusseldorf (DUS). The flight got quite some delay in the Dutch capital as the push vehicle just took a while to appear. The crew felt nervous, not always friendly and tended to chat about passengers with each other. Waiting on the ground was very tiring and bothering, as the cabin got really warm and humid. Despite the flight was really short, in the range of 30 minutes, they managed to do the water and cheese cracker service, though. Inflight, the crew felt better and more relaxed.

 

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