Inflight food: Best and worst airlines for passenger meals

Virgin America and Delta come out on top

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A recently published report has named the best and worst US airlines for inflight food.

The report by Charles Platkin PhD, a health columnist, professor and entrepreneur, looked at 12 US airlines, and tied Virgin America and Delta for top spot, saying, “Delta is the clear leader among the major carries and is tied with Virgin America this year as the healthiest airline.”

It was published on the website Diet Detective, and highlighted the average calorie count per menu choice as 405, a rise of 12.5 per cent since 2012. Platkin stressed that calories were not the only health factor studied, with emphasis on nutrients within each foodstuff, in addition to “innovations moving towards healthy, tasty, inexpensive, sustainable foods”.

Other airlines that performed well were Air Canada and JetBlue with 3.75 stars (out of a maximum of five) and Alaska Airlines, with 3.5.

United Airlines performed badly with 2.75, and American Airlines worse with 2.5. Hawaiian Airlines was the worst, however, landing up with just one star.

Platkin awarded a “Shame on You” gong to Hawaiian, and slated AA and United. The academic wrote: "Hawaiian just does not respond while United’s food and beverage department seems put out by the process, and it shows in their responses to queries. American Airlines is not too far behind with a media rep who also seems put out by the process."

Platkin heaped praise on Delta, however, saying the airline "is doing an incredible job focusing on improving its food, transparency and communication. It is the clear leader among the big carriers by a long shot. While calories are surely not everything, it’s always nice to see a decrease; the overall calories are down from 527 to 480."

The full list is as follows:

Best and worst inflight meals

Delta 4 stars

Virgin America 4 stars

Air Canada 3.75 stars

JetBlue 3.75 stars

Alaska Airlines 3.5 stars

United Airlines 2.75 stars

American 2.5 stars

Frontier Air 2.25 stars

Southwest Airlines 2 stars

Allegiant Air 1.75 stars

Spirit Airlines 1.75 stars

Hawaiian Airlines 1 star​

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