Removed a few meal options from dozens of foreign flights on Wednesday after the airline reported that a flight headed for Amsterdam had to reroute to New York due to accusations of “spoiled” food.
On Wednesday, Delta offered pasta only in the main cabin on roughly 75 foreign flights. It was unclear if Thursday’s menu adjustments would remain the same.
A Delta representative told CNBC in a statement that “out of an abundance of caution, Delta teams have proactively adjusted our in-flight meal service on a number of international flights on Wednesday, July 3.”
Customers who complained about damaged food in the main cabin on the Detroit-to-Amsterdam trip received an apology from Delta.
“We sincerely apologize to our customers for the inconvenience and delay in their travels; this is not the service Delta is known for,” a statement from Delta read.
Ash Dhokte, Delta’s onboard service manager, sent an email to employees on Wednesday stating that “immediate corrective actions have been implemented to avoid recurrence” and that the airline is looking into what went wrong.
An inquiry for information was not immediately answered by Delta caterer Do&Co.
Though onboard food safety mishaps are “extremely rare,” Dhokte added, “as our last line of defense, please examine the dish before serving it and do not serve any food that may have a contaminant.”
The event happened during the busiest time of year for travel—the summer—when rival airlines are vying for passengers. According to Henry Harteveldt, a travel consultant and the founder of Atmosphere Research Group, airlines serve hundreds of meals to passengers every day, thus these kinds of instances are uncommon.
“Delta is operating sensibly. You don’t want someone to become ill on a plane during a food scare, said Harteveldt. “The best and safest course of action is to visit all pasta.”
An further difficulty facing the airline sector is the potential strike by employees of major in-flight caterer Gate Gourmet. This Monday, federal mediators ended the mediation between Gate Gourmet and its unions, opening the door for a possible strike at the end of July.
Delta’s Dhokte stated in the staff memo on Wednesday, “Gate Gourmet caters for us at 19 domestic stations and we are reviewing strategies to limit disruptions for you and our customers should an interruption occur.”
