For most of us, airline food has been pretty lousy for decades. What had been lovely meals during the golden age of travel, like what we got to have at The Pan Am Experience several years back (they said they were going to start up again after the pandemic, but their website mentions nothing about it anymore) has decreased in substance and quality to a cookie and a cup of soda.
Big whoop.
Of course, if you’re on a long-haul flight, and especially if you’re traveling business or first class, you’ll have better options. Granted, they’re still not always amazeballs, but at least it’s better than a Biscoff cookie and half a can of Diet Coke. And some airlines offer better options and quality than others.
Which are the best?
Money Super Market, a financial services company based in the UK, decided to see which airlines offered the best food in first class and economy.
Their methodology
MoneySuperMarket’s travel insurance team conducted an analysis of 27,964 passenger reviews of first-class and economy meals from over 100 airlines. They were collected from review sites such as airlinemeals.net. They also said that airlines with less than 50 reviews and reviews for food purchased on board (e.g., snacks and drinks) weren’t included.
10 best, overall
The 10 best airlines for in-flight meals were:
- Kuwait Airways (Score: 8.58 out of 10)
- Oman Air (8.44 out of 10)
- Middle Eastern Airlines (8.39)
- Air Algerie (8.16)
- Airbaltoc (8.03)
- Aegean Airlines (7.98)
- jetBlue (7.89)
- Turkish Airlines (7.82)
- Air Mauritius (7.72)
- Swiss International Air Lines (7.63)
So yeah, jetBlue was the only U.S.-based airline to reach the top 10.
Honorable mentions include jetBlue Mint (#16), Hawaiian Airlines (#27), Delta (#47), American Airlines (#59), United (#67), Alaska Airlines (#84), American Eagle (#92), Northwest (#95 . I know, I know. More on that in a second),
10 best in economy
If any part of the plane has taken the worst hit regarding available food, it’s economy class. It’s probably not a surprise to anyone that no U.S. airlines made it into the top 10 for economy-class meals
- Air Algerie (Score: 7.99 out of 10)
- Tarom (7.77 out of 10)
- Turkish Airlines (7.63)
- Aegean Airlines (7.55)
- Emirates Air (7.54)
- Etihad Airways (7.52)
- Thai Airways International (7.49)
- Korean Air (7.48)
- Qatar Airways (7.36)
- Ethiopian Airlines (7.34)
Where were US-based airlines on the list of 68 airlines? Hawaiian Airlines made #20, Delta was #38, United was #55, American Airlines was #56, Northwest (*cough* I’m getting to it *cough*) was #64, and Alaska Airlines squeaked under the wire at #67.
10 best in business
If you can’t fly first class, business class is almost as good. Happily, one US-based airline made the top 10.
- Kuwait Airlines (Score: 8.87 out of 10)
- Gulf Air (8.86 out of 10)
- Aegean Airlines (8.66)
- Turkish Airlines (8.18)
- jetBlue (8.15)
- Qatar Airway (8.13)
- Aero Mexico (8.10)
- Austrian Airlines (7.96)
- Lufthansa CityLine (7.90)
- Asiana Airlines (7.89)
Other US-based airlines did eventually make the list of 52. jetBlue Mint was #17, United grabbed the #35 spot, Delta was #39, and American Airlines was #40.
10 best in first class
First class is what most aviation geeks attain to fly. Here are the top 10 airlines with the best first-class food:
- Swiss International Airlines (Score: 9.02 out of 10)
- Qantas (8.80 out of 10)
- Lufthansa (8.66)
- China Express (8.55)
- Etihad Airways (8.37)
- All Nippon Airways (8.19)
- Singapore Airlines (7.75)
- Japan Air Lines (7.68)
- Emirates Air (7.52)
- Delta Air Lines (7.47)
Well, at least Delta made the top 10. Honorable mentions in the 20 airlines listed go to Hawaiian Airlines (#13), American Airlines (#14), United Airlines (#19) and Alaska Airlines (#19).
So what’s up with Northwest?
Money Super Market said they used “passenger reviews collected from review sites such as airlinemeals.net.” They also said that airlines with less than 50 total reviews and reviews for food purchased on board (e.g., snacks, and drinks) weren’t included, which would make sense. However, they didn’t mention how far back they allowed reviews to go or whether they would or wouldn’t use them.
Y’see, AirlineMeals.net isn’t a newbie to the internet; it has been around since 2001. They don’t say how many reviews they’ve hosted, but they boast over 53,000 photos.
Meanwhile, Money Super Market said they conducted an analysis of 27,964 passenger reviews; 2 AirlineMeals.net photos per review would kind of make sense to add up to about 53,000, allowing for a different amount of photos here and there. So does this mean they included reviews that go back THAT far? To 2001? Because heaven knows that jetBlue’s food in 2001 was better than in 2024.
And Northwest Airlines has reviews and photos on AirlinesMeals.net from 2005 and 2006 and hasn’t existed in nearly 15 years – they merged with Delta in 2010!
Similarly, Tam Airlines was #79 for “Best airlines for in-flight meals.” More popularly known as TAM Linhas Aéreas from Brazil, it merged with Chilean airline LAN Airlines back in 2016, forming LATAM Airlines. So, another airline made the list but hasn’t existed in years.
Can this comparison be trusted?
Unless Money Super Market can clarify its methodology for determining which airlines have the best food, I’d take this study with a grain of salt (see what I did there?).
Anyway, you can look at the complete lists on this page of Money Super Market’s website.
What airlines do YOU think have the best food?
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7 comments
This list and the methodology are garbage.
Which is why we said, towards the end, to take it with a grain of salt.
Fair. 🙂 It did give me a good chuckle and eye roll.
If Pan Am didn’t make the cut then I don’t buy these results. Northwest Orient, huh?
Interesting Singapore only made the list (and lower than I would put them) for first class. IMHO their Business Class and Premium Economy offerings with the “book the cook” option (limited menu for PE but still nice selection) on long haul flights in and out of SIN are amazing and frankly better than I have had on any other airline. Now maybe this is over all flights and doesn’t focus on those but if you fly Signapore from the US to SIN non-stop in F or J be prepared for a very nice experience.
I agree. But again, it appeared they were using reviews that spanned well over a decade. If they had just used, say, pre-pandemic (you know, after some of these “winning” airlines didn’t exist anymore), perhaps the ranking would have been different.
I have to agree, my transcon Jetblue Mint had better food than my TPAC United Polaris flight.