Delta Air Lines Suspends Meal Service on 200 Flights, Citing ‘Food Safety’ Reasons

Delta Air Lines has announced that meals will temporarily no longer be available on 200 flights from Detroit due to “food safety” concerns from a local caterer.

According to CNBC, due to a “food safety issue,” the airline was forced to halt hot meal service on over 200 flights departing from its hub at Detroit Metropolitan Wayne County Airport during the past few days.

The airline announced that it had stopped operating out of the building and that other kitchens would be handling the hot food.

“During a recent inspection at a DTW kitchen, Delta’s catering partner was notified of a food safety issue within the facility,” Delta said in a statement on Sunday. “Delta and its catering partner immediately shut down hot food production and subsequently suspended all activity from the facility. Hot food and other onboard provisioning will be managed from other facilities.”

First-class meals could not be loaded due to “an unforeseen supply chain issue,” according to a message sent to the flight crew on Friday, Oct. 11. Instead, the flight was packed with extra snacks.

Requests for a response from the Food and Drug Administration on Sunday were not immediately answered.

The airline noted that no illnesses among its staff or patrons had been detected, and as compensation, it gave impacted customers frequent flyer miles or vacation vouchers.

Delta Air Lines Isn’t Alone

Delta Air Lines isn’t the only airline that has had to stop serving hot food. JetBlue recently announced that it permanently suspended serving hot meals to all passengers, except for those seated in first class.

The New York-based carrier has removed hot meals from its economy class menus after testing new food options this summer on its seasonal flights to Edinburgh and Dublin, the company told CBS MoneyWatch.

On its six daily transatlantic flights starting in the fall, the airline will serve cold items from a new “core menu” created in partnership with salad and healthy food company DIG in place of hot meals.

“The menu, created in partnership with DIG, lives up to the standard we set for high-quality meals,” the airline said in a statement to the outlet. “This change is part of our effort to ensure we can continue to provide a great experience at JetBlue’s competitive fares on these routes.”