A former cabin crew member has explained why pilots must eat different meals on their flights.
Most travellers don’t give airplane food a second thought when they’re absorbed in a Netflix series or trying to grab some sleep at 35,000 feet.
But one ex-cabin crew member says there are firm guidelines for what pilots can and can’t eat while in the air, and the reasoning is straightforward: safety.
Mandy Smith, who previously worked as cabin crew for Virgin Atlantic and wrote Cabin Fever: The Sizzling Secrets of a Virgin Air Hostess, shared what happens behind the scenes in a YouTube video with LadBible Stories.
After 12 years in the role, she learned that onboard mealtimes aren’t just about serving passengers—there’s also careful planning around the flight deck.
That includes what the pilots are served, and why.
According to Mandy, pilots won’t usually be eating identical meals during a flight.
“So, if one has the chicken, the other one has to have the fish. They always decide that between themselves before they tell us what they want.”
She said the logic is to reduce the risk of both pilots becoming ill at the same time.
“Obviously, we don’t want both of them throwing up!” Mandy adds. “Not that our food is ever bad!”
As she put it, it’s simply a ‘precautionary measure.’
So next time you fly, that’s one small bit of routine planning happening up front.
Mandy also touched on another common complaint: why meals can taste different when you’re eating them in the sky.
“It’s not the food that’s bad, it’s your taste buds that are different in mid-air,” she says.
“So, the pressure of the cabin affects your whole body, even your taste buds. It affects all of your gastric anomalies, and your brain and everything, so, it does affect your taste buds as well.”
Who’d have thought!?
“If you actually tasted that food on the ground, which is what the chefs do when they’re creating the menu, it actually tastes quite salty, and quite strong.”
She explained that, for that reason, dishes are often designed to be bolder in flavour than you might expect.
She added that the chefs have to make it stronger flavoured ‘because of the taste bud situation.’
The more you know!