Absurdly Driven looks at the world of business with a skeptical eye and a firmly rooted tongue in cheek.
It can’t be easy being vegetarian.
I suspect that the number of times you get a wonderful meal on a flight is only slightly larger than the number of times pigs have flown.
Yet journalist Steve Hogarty seemed taken aback by his vegetarian meal on Colombian airline Avianca.
Indeed, he took to Twitter to reveal it in all its glory.
The vegetarian meal on this flight is an apple and a pear wrapped in clingfilm, served with a knife and fork. pic.twitter.com/CT7hypCylb
-; Steve Hogarty (@misterbrilliant) November 17, 2017
It’s not a hot meal, to be sure.
But at least it’s not the alleged Philly Cheesesteak I was once served on an American Airlines flight. In First Class, as it happens.
Still, an apple and a pear wrapped in clingfilm isn’t exactly edifying.
Avianca did immediately respond to Hogarty’s tweet: “Service is our priority, please let us know your flight date/number and also your contact information via DM. This is not our standard so we surely will investigate as soon as possible.”
I contacted Avianca and will update should I be nourished with a reply.
Some on Twitter, though, suggested Hogarty had been relatively fortunate.
Mike Gilyatt offered: “On a recent @BritishAirways flight I asked for a vegetarian meal and they told me they had none left, but kindly offered me chicken or beef as an alternative. I eventually got given some cheese.”
Well, at least they were kindly.
Ange Chan told Gilyatt that the same thing had happened to her on a Cathay Pacific flight.
Then there was this.
I asked for a veggie meal on a flight once and this is what I got. At least yours was wrapped pic.twitter.com/1yU8GCceO4
-; Dave O’Carroll (@DaveOCarroll) November 18, 2017
Some, though, insisted that Avianca served good food.
I flew with @Avianca this month, preordered a gluten free meal and it was perfect… they even served me first. Maybe you didn’t preorder? Maybe bad luck? 100% service is impossible
-; Benjamin pavlotzky (@bpavlotzky) November 18, 2017
Airlines are currently undecided what to do about free food.
Delta and United are two that are bringing it back for Economy Class passengers on certain routes. (The ones where there’s actual competition, naturally.)
British Airways has, on European routes, gone to on-board purchasing. I must say, though, that the bacon roll I bought on a BA flight earlier this year was extremely pleasant.
Still, some airlines simply don’t always fulfill special requests.
Who can forget the plight of Martin Pavelka when flying with All Nippon Airways earlier this year? He had preordered a gluten-free meal.
He got one lone banana. And, yes, they gave him cutlery too.
On many airlines, the wisest choice is to bring your own food. At least you know what you’re getting.