One of our readers wrote to us the other day and asked if it was true that pilots and co-pilots are required to eat different meals. The answer to this is a resounding yes, at least most of the time. But I’ll go into a little more detail because it’s really interesting…and, once you know the whole story, makes perfect sense.
In a Facebook post from 2021, Malaysian Airports wrote: “Most pilots and co-pilots do not eat the same type of food during a flight. They are advised to eat different types of in-flight food because if the food served is contaminated and causes food poisoning, it would not pose a threat to the other pilot and jeopardise the safety of the flight. Should one of the pilots fall ill due to the food, there is still another pilot to assume command of the aircraft.”
So yeah, many airlines 100% require their pilots and co-pilots to eat different things. This is to ensure there will be someone on the plane who is capable of flying and landing it, if, say, the pilot winds up with food poisoning.
I do say “many” airlines because not all do. A perfect example of when not requiring it can be a problem happened in August, 1982. According to an article in the New York Times in 1984, during an Overseas National Airways flight from Lisbon to Boston, 10 crew members, including the pilot, co-pilot and flight engineer, all became ill about a half hour out of Logan Airport. Fortunately, the pilot was able to land the plane safely. However once in Boston, Jo Ryan, a spokesman for the Massachusetts Port Authority, said, ”The crew all eat different things, but the one thing they had in common was tapioca pudding.” NYT continued that tapioca pudding from the same source made at least six passengers ill when it was served aboard a Capitol Airlines flight from Lisbon three days later. (Note: some of you may be aware that Overseas National Airways actually ceased operations in 1978. So it’s possible the story happened before 1982, or perhaps it was a different airline)
Because of situations like the above, many airlines have strict protocols that say pilots and co-pilots can’t eat the same thing.
Some other rules about airline workers’ food
- Pilots/co-pilots can eat what’s available to them from a special selection of meals offered by the airline, or they can bring their own food from home. They just can’t eat the same thing (so no, “My husband made this amazeballs apple pie; I brought slices for both of us” and then they both eat it while flying.
- Pilots also don’t eat the same things that passengers are offered.
- Flight attendants can also bring their own or, if catering brings extra meals, they can eat those. A spokesperson for Finnair told the Telegraph that while cabin crew on long-haul flights eat the same business class meals served to passengers, the captain and co-pilot still each get different meals from the flight attendants, as well as from each other.
So this?
Nope…doesn’t happen.
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This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
