Flight crew meals?

[wildone63]

In light of the current BA dispute,I was wondering if Pilots and Flight attendants have to pay for their meals when flying,do airlines deduct food costs from their wages or is free food a perk of the job?

[thinfourth2]

wildone63 said:

is free food a perk of the job?

Have you eaten an inflight meal?

[eharding]

I know a few BA flight crew who regularly self-cater rather than eat the crew food.

Apparently, many years ago the union negotiated an absurdly high minimum calorific value for crew meals which would make a modern nutritionist cry, and which is still in place - in order to meet the agreed number of calories the meals are sprayed with fat, since the standard fare offered nowadays isn't lardy enough.

[crisisjez]

Crew meals are generally free, which is good because if I had to pay for mine I'd want my money back.
The only reason they get away with such poor quality slop is because it is free IMO.

[Geneve]

Ask a Ryan Air pilot. I heard they had to buy their own bottled water.

[Pothole]

Geneve said:

Ask a Ryan Air pilot. I heard they had to buy their own bottled water.

why do they need bottled water? Do they all live in countries where you can't drink it out of the tap?

[Condi]

Pothole said:

Geneve said:

Ask a Ryan Air pilot. I heard they had to buy their own bottled water.

why do they need bottled water? Do they all live in countries where you can't drink it out of the tap?

I guess you cant take a tap on a plane and expect running water?

[DHA]

Geneve said:

Ask a Ryan Air pilot. I heard they had to buy their own bottled water.

Yes they do.

They also pay if they open the plastic sealed flight manuals, but hey the tickets are only £1 so thats ok then isn't it!

[Engineer1]

It could be BS, but I heard that the pilots have to have different meals from each other, for example if one has the chicken the other has the fish, to avoid both going down with food poisoning if there is anything up with the food.

[knight]

crisisjez said:

Crew meals are generally free, which is good because if I had to pay for mine I'd want my money back.
The only reason they get away with such poor quality slop is because it is free IMO.

The crew meals we normally manage to get our hands on are generally better than the pax ones!

[knight]

Condi said:

Pothole said:

Geneve said:

Ask a Ryan Air pilot. I heard they had to buy their own bottled water.

why do they need bottled water? Do they all live in countries where you can't drink it out of the tap?

I guess you cant take a tap on a plane and expect running water?

Pax airplanes do have taps, in the galleys and the toilets, but I would only ever drink from a bottle onboard!

[Mike.C]

Don't really see the issue here. I have to pay for bottled water at work too.

I sit in an office and don't have to pay for a bic biro though.

[langy]

Engineer1 said:

It could be BS, but I heard that the pilots have to have different meals from each other, for example if one has the chicken the other has the fish, to avoid both going down with food poisoning if there is anything up with the food.

If this is the case, then Airplane! (the film) would be purely fictional

[auditt]

When i flew from london t5 to miami with BA a few years back i have to say the chicken was lovely (but take into account, i had several beers as well as the boys did too) so maybe anything would of tasted good

[crisisjez]

Pothole said:

why do they need bottled water? Do they all live in countries where you can't drink it out of the tap?

No but taking through more than 100ml isn't allowed

[crisisjez]

Engineer1 said:

It could be BS, but I heard that the pilots have to have different meals from each other, for example if one has the chicken the other has the fish, to avoid both going down with food poisoning if there is anything up with the food.

Not on shorthaul, but true on the longer flights.

[billybuds]

Couple of mates work for RYR, the only free food/drink is hot water. So they have to take their own tea bags/coffee. Apparently a couple of their captains open their flight bag at the beginning of the day, and produce a selection of teas and coffees that would make a fully stocked Costa pale in insignificance!

[IM NUTS2]

billybuds said:

Couple of mates work for RYR, the only free food/drink is hot water. So they have to take their own tea bags/coffee. Apparently a couple of their captains open their flight bag at the beginning of the day, and produce a selection of teas and coffees that would make a fully stocked Costa pale in insignificance!

lol that is true, when i was dispatching a Ryanair flight the other day i had to get the CPT and FO a Starbucks!

But Thompson and Thomas Cook do give the flight deck a meal or snack most of the time its a sandwich and packet of crisp's.

[crisisjez]

So just remember that next time boys and girls............
Buy a cheap ticket and the Pilots flying you may not have eaten anything all day

[mattdaniels]

To be fair I don't feel like eating much after 16 pints and no sleep.