Is airline food getting better? Some carriers have enlisted celebrity chefs to create meals that they hope will please fliers and boost customer satisfaction. “We have restrictions as far as what we can do,” Boston celebrity chef Todd English, who customizes sandwich and salad recipes for Delta, told The Boston Globe. “The most progressive thing we did was the black olive spaghetti salad.” US Airways is investing in higher-quality ingredients, like adding fresh grilled chicken to salads instead of precut frozen chunks of poultry. Because passengers’ sense of taste can be dulled by as much as 40 percent at high altitude, many airline meals are prepared with extra seasoning. One chef told the Globe he puts shallots and garlic into every dish. Even making a good cup of coffee is tricky. For its JetBlue flights, Dunkin’ Donuts reportedly had to adjust the ratio of water and grounds for in-flight coffee and use water that is run through an onboard filtration system.
