Via news.com.au:
PIA flight Pk-711 was scheduled to leave for New York via Manchester at 6:45am (local time) in the morning when flight captain Noushad requested sandwiches for lunch.
Sandwiches were included as part of the in-flight menu on the flight until recently. On November 25 all the sandwiches were replaced with peanuts, chips and biscuits to save costs, and the catering department could only serve the approved revised menu.
When the pilot requested sandwiches the catering staff told him that they were not part of the approved menu, and that the only way to obtain sandwiches would be to place an order with a five-star city hotel – which would take over two hours.
Surely there’s more to this story, given that they took a 2.5 hour delay? It sounds like the sandwiches were part of a snack menu, though I assume on a longhaul flight they have “real” food as well. I can actually understand the pilot’s viewpoint if all they had to serve on a longhaul flight were peanuts, chips, and biscuits, but I can’t imagine that’s the case.
Very odd, but still made me chuckle a bit, so I figured it was worth sharing.
I believe I read elsewhere that the sandwich was a between meal snack, and that they had full meals for the (obviously lengthy) flight. So yeah, a snack delay.
I commend the pilot in this story.
Look, everybody is sick and tired of airlines cutting cutting cutting every single thing, to the point where for almost everyone, flying commercial airlines now has become an utterly miserable experience. Apparently, the guys sitting in the front office feel the same way. Peanuts? I'm stuck in this miserable tube in the sky for 14 hours or more, and all you provide for food is some tiny packet...
I commend the pilot in this story.
Look, everybody is sick and tired of airlines cutting cutting cutting every single thing, to the point where for almost everyone, flying commercial airlines now has become an utterly miserable experience. Apparently, the guys sitting in the front office feel the same way. Peanuts? I'm stuck in this miserable tube in the sky for 14 hours or more, and all you provide for food is some tiny packet of @#*! peanuts - seriously, PEANUTS?! These guys have the lives of hundreds of paying customers in their hands - literally - and you cheap idiots can't even bother to feed the damn pilots a frigging sandwich? That's not only a stupid, cruel thing to do, it's probably a safety risk, too. When that jet is 39,000 feet over a storm on a dark night, the last thing the pilot should have to worry about is his stomach growling. Fer cryin' out loud, feed the poor guy!
Personally, I thank this flight crew for standing up to the idiocy of today's airline management. I only hope that they continue to make common cause with the poor, suffering masses in the back, struggling to survive the latest crap that the corporate office has inflicted on them. Maybe the captain will refuse to push back and taxi until he - and everyone else on board - gets back another 6" of leg room, pillows, a blanket, and a bathroom that doesn't look and smell like it's part of a Mexican gas station.
Well, I can dream of such things.
Maybe it was the same pilot who decided to drop off his daughter half way through the flight.
I once 'benefited' from an argument by a few United pilots over their lunch which caused a 30 minute delay for a PIT-SFO flight. I was watching the wrong line (and ordered a sandwich from a nearby cafe) until I heard a gate agent announce that the flight was headed for Toronto, and then realised my flight was from the neighbouring gate (which would have left by then if not for the argument).
>Surely there’s more to this story
Well, if you believe the article to begin with, there's no reason to not believe the rest of it:
"Amazingly, management directed the catering team to order the sandwiches as requested."
@ Joe S -- Whoops, fixed!
What's "sandiwches"?
Great post Ben....if I was the pilot, samosas would be sufficient hehehe.
I had no idea that the airport restaurants did not offer sandwiches on the menu. :D