Airlines made all kinds of service cuts during the pandemic. In many situations they started as a temporary measure, but became permanent. It’s nice to see that Austrian Airlines plans to bring back one of the best parts of its inflight service — the inflight chefs.
I first wrote about this a couple of months ago when there were job postings for these positions. The airline has now officially announced the return of this, and has provided a timeline for the changes.
In this post:
Austrian Airlines inflight chefs return summer 2023
Austrian Airlines has historically had by far the best business class soft product of any Lufthansa Group airline. The airline has exceptional catering from DO & CO, and pre-pandemic the airline had “flying chefs.” These were cut during the pandemic, but will be making a comeback.
Austrian Airlines has announced that the flying chefs will be returning as of the summer 2023 schedule. As of April 2023 we’ll see flying chefs gradually return to the skies. For the first few months, we’ll see the flying chefs serving the current meals (presumably to get used to working on planes and the service flow). Then as of later in the summer 2023 schedule, the airline will reintroduce its expanded catering service.
Austrian Airlines has been hiring inflight chefs in recent months, which will exclusively fly on long haul routes and work in business class.
Officially the requirements to be hired for this are fairly limited. The airline is looking for candidates with experience as a professional chef, who are fluent in German and English. However, there are no explicit experience requirements beyond that.
For those curious, pay for this role starts at €2,600 per month (€31,200 per year), depending on experience and qualifications. There are of course allowances while traveling, and the ability to earn more for picking up additional flying.
Do inflight chefs actually make a difference?
Austrian isn’t the only airline to have this concept, so what exactly do these inflight chefs do? After all, it’s not like there’s much cooking that happens on planes, but rather meals are at best reheated, plated, etc.
Ultimately inflight chefs don’t do anything that flight attendants couldn’t do. However:
- The presence of inflight chefs generally indicates that an airline is investing in its soft product
- You can expect that more effort will be put into presentation (plating, garnishing, etc.) when there’s an inflight chef
- On some level it’s marketing, as airlines that offer this market it heavily
I recently flew Austrian’s Boeing 777 business class from Chicago to Vienna. While it was a great experience, the absence of the inflight chef was noticeable. In the past there would be a trolley with appetizers and desserts, where everything would be plated at your seat. That was no longer the case.
Similarly, while Austrian has an excellent inflight coffee menu, it was significantly cut back compared to pre-pandemic.
With Austrian now bringing back inflight chefs, I imagine service will be fully restored, which is awesome. With Austrian also expected to get some Boeing 787s in the coming years with new business class seats, this will be a fantastic way to cross the Atlantic.
Bottom line
Austrian Airlines is expected to bring back its flying chef concept as of the summer of 2023. Chefs will start to return as of April 2023, and then a few months after that we should see a refreshed meal service. It reflects an overall investment in the soft product, and means Austrian will bring back its full trolley service and coffee menu.
With so many cuts during the pandemic having been made permanent, it’s refreshing to see that’s not the case at Austrian.
What do you make of Austrian bringing back its inflight chefs?
Finde es toll das AUA wieder Köche an Board hat.Zeigt die Qualität der Fluglinie.
As one of those passengers who has to fly in the Y cabin, both OS and LH offered just one meal choice for me during flights last year: vegetable lasagna
Sorry, unless they give me at least 2 to choose from, I'm flying DL or AA or UA. Heck, I recently flew LA in Economy class and they had 3 meals to choose from!
I say, "Yay". It seems that so much gets cut in biz and first class it's nice to see this restored.
I experienced chefs on both TK and OS before the pandemic. Initially, i.e. when first introduced, they really prepared some (not all) food on board. E.g. the breakfast eggs were prepared on board and so was pasta. But later on, this was eliminated and basically reduced to "differentiated reheating and plating", i.e. each part of the meal would be reheated only as long as required and then put onto the plate. This is still marginally...
I experienced chefs on both TK and OS before the pandemic. Initially, i.e. when first introduced, they really prepared some (not all) food on board. E.g. the breakfast eggs were prepared on board and so was pasta. But later on, this was eliminated and basically reduced to "differentiated reheating and plating", i.e. each part of the meal would be reheated only as long as required and then put onto the plate. This is still marginally better than the standard model, but only if the chef does care about differentiated reheating.
Not sure if they bring back the full version?
But when does MIA-VIE resume?
Any idea why Swiss and Lufthansa don’t also use Do & Co for catering? Obviously their menus are different but presumably there could be some savings with economies of scale, no?
They should consider VIE to MCO :-)
I am mostly interested when Austrian will start flying to Miami again. I understand LH and LX are here but I really enjoyed flying Austrian couple years back...
Has anyone any idea if Austrian is considering coming back to MIA?
I flew Austrian in C a couple years ago on IAD-VIE and you could get made to order eggs for breakfast! It was almost in the fine print in the menu so I may have been the only one who noticed, but fresh sunny side up eggs beats a reheated omelette.
Hallo Ich bin ab 1.6.2023 verfügbar als Private Chef oder Flying Chef. Gerne kann Ich senden mein CV mit Zeugnissen.
Wenn jemand Interesse hat dann bitte kontaktieren Sie mich auf +421919081821 oder per E-Mail: [email protected]
While I only fly short haul around Europe with them in Business class, I think they’re the best in Europe. The food is first class and the crew are exceptional
They will be forever let down by their antiquated hardware, and until they get some contemporary jets for long-haul (A350, 787 etc), it's going to be as much endurance as pleasure. Flying in J BKK-VIE on their 777, great food, great service, but we vibrated and roared our way across the skies - even my then 85 year old mother, who's hard of hearing, noticed. It ends up being oddly an exhausting experience.
As a frequent Austrian passenger I can say the experience is not the same without chef, and conversations with flight crew confirm that from their perspective chef added touches to improve the food. So this is excellent news. Danke Austrian!
They are probably a flight attendant in a different uniform and some chef related experience....
I haven’t noticed any downside to the hardware once we’re flying, but family, friends and I have encountered several delayed or canceled trips in the last year because of maintenance issues discovered while on the ground. Just three weeks ago my VIE-JFK flight on a 767 was delayed for two hours because of two maintenance issues, the later of which was apparently a faulty ABS on a brake.
Nope. Chefs are employed by the catering company (Do&Co), they definitely aren't FAs. Their sole focus is on the food (possibly drinks).
Austrian is bringing back the chefs or Do&Co is bringing back the chefs? I thought Do&Co paid their wages or at least a part of the wages? All I know is Austrian needs to get their catering and service back up to pre-pandemic levels. On a recent flight from VIE-JFK they had no snacks available in Business Class between the meal service and service in general was lackluster.
I just had the pleasure of taking Austrian airlines flight from VIE to EWR today. We arrived couple of hours ago.
Crew was very charming, friendly and attentive. You can not say enough about the quality of food, menu choices, presentation and the portions. The ladies kept rolling in the carts and my family and i were stuffed. Who needs a snack in between meals when the 2 main meals are so good. Btw, one...
I just had the pleasure of taking Austrian airlines flight from VIE to EWR today. We arrived couple of hours ago.
Crew was very charming, friendly and attentive. You can not say enough about the quality of food, menu choices, presentation and the portions. The ladies kept rolling in the carts and my family and i were stuffed. Who needs a snack in between meals when the 2 main meals are so good. Btw, one can always approach any crew member and ask and i am sure they will find something for the passenger.
Flew United Polaris to Frankfurt couple of weeks ago from IAD and food was a big disappointment.
Econ or Business?
Business.
The chefs are an upgrade option on catering packages with Do & Co. So since Austrian will be paying for that option again, technically they are bringing them back. But I believe you’re right, that their paycheck is from Do & Co.
@Bencanteur 31k is a respectable wage in Europe. Also that is usually after tax already, as customary there.
Just to add, this figure will be before tax. In Europe the advertised salary is always pre tax :)
Definetly pre-tax, but the yearly salary is 14 monthly salaries, because in Austria you get an extra full month's salary in December and June as a Christmas and summer bonus
In Europe as pointed by others rather pre-tax. But with medical insurance, paid leave, paid holidays, pension etc included.
31k is poverty wages. Yikes.
Exactly! i was shocked to know that. How can they attract new chefs?
Take note AA, Delta & especially United.
Worth noting that the degree to which a meal is reheated properly actually makes a difference. Most FAs I've flown with - with the notable exception of LH first and a couple other intl F - will just pop your main in the oven until it's tough as a boot. Fish, steak, you name it. I'm hopeful someone with actual culinary experience will take a much more nuanced approach.
Anyone have any idea which routes these will need used on? I know "Long Haul", but let's say from the US to Austria. Which city pairs? On another note: I wish OneWorld had more Central and Eastern European partners...
Any route to the US is considered long haul.
Flew Austrian once. I thought the Chief on board was a nice touch and it made the food service seem more exclusive. Basically a FA with a white jacket and chief hat - but the food was served at the perfect temperature and more detail.
I thought that the chief hats can be worn only by native Americans.