Taking a Long Flight? Don’t Come Hungry

The report of the death of the on-board meal has been greatly exaggerated, to loosely paraphrase Mark Twain.

True, many U.S. airlines reduced or eliminated food service after the Sept. 11 attacks. But of the nine majors, Alaska and Continental never did cut back, and several have restored some service sliced earlier.

It is still possible to tuck into beef tenderloin in puff pastry with brandy sauce at 35,000 feet, as Alaska Airlines’ first-class passengers may do.

But although some food service is coming back, it remains below pre-Sept. 11 levels for many U.S. airlines. That means fewer meals and longer intervals between them, especially for people in the cheap seats. On American and Delta, for instance, coach passengers may go four hours in the air without food, under guidelines announced last fall and still in effect. Those four hours can easily stretch to seven or more if you’re taking connecting flights.

Just writing about that kind of denial makes my stomach growl. But for those with conditions such as diabetes, delay can be deadly. People who take medications to lower their blood sugar should eat every three to four hours, says Mary Mead, a registered dietitian and lecturer at UC Berkeley. In fact, it’s a good idea for everyone to eat that often to avoid swings in blood sugar, she adds.

Where to get the food?

Mead suggests taking your own. “Unfortunately, there’s a lot of really unhealthy food at airports,” she says. A study last year of 10 major U.S. airports by the Physicians Committee for Responsible Medicine criticized the restaurants for offering too many “mystery-meat chili dogs and greasy hamburgers”; fewer than 60% had healthy, vegetarian meals. (I can empathize. While waiting last fall for a flight from LAX, I scoured the airport for non-refried beans to satisfy my protein craving, without success.)

Even if you know your flight will offer food, “you never know what will happen,” so take food anyway, Mead advises. Many of us can testify to the wisdom of that. I once found myself in the Dallas-Fort Worth airport past midnight with all restaurants shuttered, after bad weather and a security scare delayed my return trip from New Orleans by hours. The bag of nuts I had bought en route came in handy.

Figuring out which flights offer food these days can be tricky. The most reliable way is to call airline reservations and ask about your flight, “but I don’t think a lot of customers know to ask,” says American spokesman Todd Burke. Some airlines’ Internet sites also give this information, as should the itinerary a travel agent gives you.

Airlines have astonishingly varied food-service policies, and they are riddled with exceptions. Most require that meal-serving flights depart or fly through “meal windows,” typically two hours, such as 5 to 7 p.m. for dinner.

An update on some guidelines for domestic travel:

Alaska’s rule is “meals at mealtime,” says spokesman Jack Walsh, except on short flights, such as those between Southern California and the Bay Area. Whether the meal will be hot or cold depends on flight length.

American provides food to passengers on flights of at least four hours in coach and two hours in first class. Regardless of duration, flights that go all the way to either coast from its Dallas-Fort Worth hub have food service. Before Sept. 11, the cutoff was two hours for coach and 90 minutes for first class.

America West provides meals on flights to both coasts from its Phoenix hub; only first-class passengers get meals on flights to the Midwest and South. Basically, this means a flight must be about 3 1/2 hours to four hours for coach food service. Before Sept. 11, the cutoff was 2 1/2 to three hours. Whether hot or cold depends on flight length.

Continental serves food on flights that depart 7 to 9 a.m., 11 a.m. to 1 p.m. and 5 to 7 p.m. and meet other criteria. For coach, the flight must be at least 11/2 hours for breakfast and two hours for lunch or dinner. For first class, the cutoff is 11/2 hours for all meals, and food may be served outside regular meal hours if it’s a route popular with business travelers or the competition serves meals, spokesman Rahsaan Johnson says.

Delta offers food in coach for flights of more than 1,750 miles (about four hours) and in first class for flights of more than 700 miles (about two hours). Before Sept. 11, the cutoff for coach was 547 miles for breakfast, 726 miles for lunch and dinner.

Northwest serves food in coach on flights from its Midwest hubs (Detroit, Minneapolis, Memphis, Tenn.) to the West Coast but not to the East Coast. Before Sept. 11 it served some meals on East Coast flights and on shorter flights. It will convert first-class service from cold to hot meals for breakfast on April 7 and for dinner on May 1.

Low-fare Southwest serves snacks ranging from peanuts, raisins or pretzels for flights of less than 1 1/2 hours to an “enhanced fast food snack pack” of bread sticks, cheese, cereal bar, cookie and “meat stick” on longer flights.

United doesn’t provide food service in coach on flights of less than 1,700 miles, with some exceptions, such as between Denver and the East Coast. It has restored first- and business-class food service between its Chicago hub and many East Coast cities after eliminating it on flights of less than 750 miles last fall. Before Sept. 11, travelers could expect meals or snacks on almost all flights.

US Airways has restored meal service on most flights except some short- to mid-range ones, such as those within the Northeast or between the Northeast and Midwest. Last fall it suspended meal service on all U.S. flights except transcontinental ones, plus longer-haul flights to the Caribbean. On March 1, snack service on flights of more than 1,000 miles was restored in coach. First class now gets hot meals on flights of more than 700 miles.

Of course, as any frequent flier knows, what’s considered a “snack” on one airline may be a “meal” on another. Just what is a diminutive turkey sandwich with chips? So ask the reservations agent, especially if you have special dietary needs. Major airlines still commonly offer a dozen or more types of special meals with advance notice, typically 24 hours: kosher, gluten free, Muslim, nondairy vegetarian and more.

And then there’s JetBlue. This low-fare entrant makes nonstop coast-to-coast hauls, serving cookies, bagel chips and blue potato chips. That’s the total food service.

“No, we’ve never had a complaint, ever” about the food, says spokeswoman Carla Frio.

Of course, she says, “Every time I fly, I pack my own little lunch.”

Just like the rest of us.

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Jane Engle welcomes comments and suggestions but cannot respond individually to letters and calls. Write Travel Insider, Los Angeles Times, 202 W. 1st St., Los Angeles, CA 90012, or e-mail jane.engle@latimes.com.