Delta goes pasta-only for thousands of international travelers after ‘spoiled’ food forced a flight to divert

Delta
Air
Lines
pulled
some
meal
options
from
dozens
of
international
flights
on
Wednesday
hours
after
the
carrier
said
reports
of
“spoiled”
food
on
an
Amsterdam-bound
flight
forced
the
plane
to
divert
to
New
York.

Delta
was
only
serving
pasta
in
the
main
cabin
on
about
75
international
flights
on
Wednesday.
It
wasn’t
clear
if
the
menu
changes
would
continue
on
Thursday.

“Out
of
an
abundance
of
caution,
Delta
teams
have
proactively
adjusted
our
in-flight
meal
service
on
a
number
of
international
flights
on
Wednesday,
July
3,”
a
Delta
spokeswoman
said
in
a
statement
to
CNBC.

Delta
apologized
to
customers
over
the
report
of
spoiled
food
in
the
main
cabin
on
the
Detroit-to-Amsterdam
flight.

“This
is
not
the
service
Delta
is
known
for
and
we
sincerely
apologize
to
our
customers
for
the
inconvenience
and
delay
in
their
travels,”
Delta
said.

In
an
email
to
staff
on
Wednesday,
Ash
Dhokte,
who
leads
onboard
service
at
Delta,
said
the
airline
is
investigating
what
went
wrong
and
that
“immediate
corrective
actions
have
been
implemented
to
avoid
recurrence.” 

Do&Co.,
a
Delta
caterer,
did
not
immediately
respond
to
a
request
for
comment.

“As
our
last
line
of
defense,
please
examine
the
dish
before
serving
it
and
do
not
serve
any
food
that
may
have
a
contaminant,”
Dhokte
wrote,
noting
that
onboard
food
safety
incidents
are
“extremely
rare.”

The
incident
occurred
in
the
midst
of
the
peak
summer
travel
season,
when
Delta
and
its
rivals
are

fighting
over
travelers.
Airlines
serve
thousands
of
meals
a
day
to
customers
and
such
incidents
are
rare,
said
Henry
Harteveldt,
a
travel
consultant
and
founder
of
Atmosphere
Research
Group.

“Delta
is
taking
prudent
action.
When
you
have
a
food
scare
you
don’t
want
anyone
getting
sick
on
a
plane,”
said
Harteveldt.
“Going
to
all
pasta
is
the
safest
and
smartest
option.”

The
airline
industry
is
facing
another
challenge:
a
possible
strike
by
workers
at
major
inflight
caterer
Gate
Gourmet.
Federal
mediators
released
Gate
Gourmet
and
its
unions
from
mediation
earlier
this
week,
paving
the
way
for
a
potential
strike
at
the
end
of
July.

“Gate
Gourmet
caters
for
us
at
19
domestic
stations
and
we
are
reviewing
strategies
to
limit
disruptions
for
you
and
our
customers
should
an
interruption
occur,”
Delta’s
Dhokte
said
in
the
staff
note
Wednesday.