Books, Arts & Manners: No Pie in the Sky

WHY is airline food the way it is, and why doesn’t someone do something about it? Actually, there are people—such as my contrarian colleague David Klinghoffer—who claim to like it in nearly all its manifestations. (Could it be that what they really like is those clever little containers, reminiscent of the TV dinners of our childhood?) On the other end of the spectrum are those who opt out, either taking a sleeping pill and spending the entire flight in a coma, or bringing their own food— whether a sandwich, as John O’Sullivan does, or Digby Anderson’s five course, home-cooked meal.

But most of us fall somewhere in the middle, regarding the meal service as part of the essential rhythm of any flight over about two hours—perhaps a nostalgic carryover from railroad days—but annoyed that so much of the time it isn’t done better.

About the Author

Linda Bridges

Ms. Bridges is the former editor-at-large of National Review.

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WHY is airline food the way it is, and why doesn’t someone do something about it? Actually, there are people—such as my contrarian colleague David Klinghoffer—who claim to like it in nearly all its manifestations. (Could it be that what they really like is those clever little containers, reminiscent of the TV dinners of our childhood?) On the other end of the spectrum are those who opt out, either taking a sleeping pill and spending the entire flight in a coma, or bringing their own food— whether a sandwich, as John O’Sullivan does, or Digby Anderson’s five course, home-cooked meal.

But most of us fall somewhere in the middle, regarding the meal service as part of the essential rhythm of any flight over about two hours—perhaps a nostalgic carryover from railroad days—but annoyed that so much of the time it isn’t done better.