Who Makes The Best And Worst Airplane Food? (PHOTOS)

When you're cruising at 600 miles an hour, gazing at the beautiful, puffy white clouds outside your window, the dining options don't always match the view. Flying at a high altitude is one thing, but eating an in-flight meal that's of equally high quality? That's hard to find.

We've made the search for fine airline dining a little easier by rounding up airlines with some of the best -- and worst -- food. Come onboard and take a look through our slideshow of airlines, each judged on a scale of 1 (stick to the complimentary peanuts) to 5 (worthy of first class).

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Comments

[Igor Philippov]

02:25 PM on 02/06/2012

aeroflot offers one of the worst menu in the domestic lines. its menu is really very bad

[amfree516]

06:46 AM on 01/31/2012

Air Canada - the airline that Canadians love to hate - and they deserve every bit of that reputation. I just loved being woken up 1 hour into a trans-Atlantic flight to be told that they forgot my gluten-free food. The cabin crew did try to help and came up with a banana and a yogurt from their own lunches, but this incident is typical of the sloppiness of service on Air Canada flights. Although I must say, the food is usually so bad that if I hadn't been so hungry, I'd have been grateful to miss their meals. I always take my own food as much as possible and plan around the security regulations.

[amfree516]

06:34 AM on 01/31/2012

Alitalia wins the award for worst airline coffee. It's cold, acidic and they only have powdered creamer. If you're flying Alitalia, skip the insult that they offer as coffee.

[flyprivate]

02:50 PM on 01/24/2012

I can't say much about commercial flights and decent food, but of course on private charters, the world of cuisine is at your fingertips. I've had excellent breakfast spreads, lunches and dinners and wish I had pictures to share. Private Jet Group is a great company where they book a charter based on your particular needs, down to the catering.

[Mamadea]

04:46 AM on 01/23/2012

Chilllle, just get me to my destination, SAFELY!

[archeomoos]

10:40 PM on 01/22/2012

Not having flown in over thirty years, perhaps I am remiss in offering an opinion, but I just can't resist. I figure I used up all my "good flight hours" during Viet Nam. But It seems to me the airlines have just become aware that no matter what the offence or expense Americans have this need to "be there." Gone are the days when the journey was a major part of the joy in traveling. Folks pay extra to be publically humiliated by TSA, pay extra for the baggage that used to get flown for free, people are gratefull no one said anything about their weight and tried to them charge for an extra seat and they are grateful to get fed at all on any kind of flight. The best commercial travel meal I ever had was on a Continental Trailways bus. The young lady brought it to me and told me that we expected to be in Denver in approximately an hour. Then she reassured me that if I needed something else to snack on she would always be there. After Denver we headed south to Carlsbad Caverns, and true to her word the hostess was there for me with popsicles as the driver explained the alcaline flats outside of El Paso Texas. Oh, yes..I forgot, no one checked me for explosives or fire arms (which I had) and the toilet was cleaned everytime someone used it.

[Kaleidozone]

10:07 PM on 01/22/2012

So far, Air France has had the best food in my flying experiences. I mostly fly Delta as I'm in the US, and my flights are relatively short so it's usually peanuts or pretzels. Air France served a delicious full course hot meal en route to Martinique.

[wwhatever747]

06:57 PM on 01/22/2012

Blame it on the airliner's CEO for wanting a fat bonus than providing a better food services?

[mmbcf]

06:08 PM on 01/22/2012

Customer service is dead in America. Just look at the 2 American dinners in the pics, processed cheap rubbish with the highest priced airfare. Its time Americans wake up & realize how bad they've been getting screwed by their elite. We Europeans take to the streets when something isn't right & always get our demands met. America is the wealthiest country in the world yet the wealth lies with so few its very sad. At least they've passed health law for all unless the far right takes that away as well. Wake up Yanks! Cheers

[jchowell3657]

05:32 PM on 01/22/2012

Grab a Subway sandwich and be done with it.

[parthenon1]

04:42 PM on 01/22/2012

No one rides an airplane to get a meal, its a way of getting from one point to another. My favorite airline, SouthWest gives peanuts and some times cookies and or pretzels but they do the best job of getting me from point to point generally on time or even early and at a reasonable fare with NO bag fees.

[cmcclarty]

07:28 PM on 01/22/2012

Strange they even allow peanuts because someone would complain about there health from the smell.

[SwampeastMike]

10:01 AM on 01/22/2012

Try Turkish Airlines. Excellent tasting meals and no charge for drinks/wine even in coach. The short domestic hops still offer a large, very tasty snack. Non-stop from L.A., Chicago, D.C. and JFK to Istanbul to visit not only Turkey but to find surprising short flights to a great deal of the world.

[amfree516]

06:40 AM on 01/31/2012

I Agree - I'll take the food on Turkish over any other airline that I fly. Their food is so good that I'd pay extra to eat it. Plus for Turkish is that their staff are trained to serve their customers. I missed a flight in Cairo and the gentlemen at Turkish were not only helpful but they went out of their way (and I wasn't even a customer of theirs). I'm still grateful and my gratitude takes the form of using Turkish Airlines anytime that I can. When are North American airlines going to learn that good customer service leads to customer loyalty?

[princessdiscoamy]

07:59 AM on 01/22/2012

I remember flying on Continental years ago I getting a huge breakfast: alouette cheese omlet, sausage, bagel, muffins, fruit, juices. And it didn't taste bad. What happened to the good old days of food on an airplane? :)

[wwhatever747]

06:58 PM on 01/22/2012

Re: I really miss those ol days when the passengers were airliner's number 1 customers as well of having resturant type of meals.

[j1sju]

07:53 AM on 01/22/2012

Yeah and if American Airlines doesn't deliver your pizza in 30 minutes or less, you get a free trip.

[StevenRussell1]

07:46 AM on 01/22/2012

It's just like God's Word says. One of the signs that we are living in the last days, or the end times, is that people will be ungrateful. "But to the poor every bitter thing is sweet."