Qantas has stopped offering vegetarian meals on some domestic flights, leaving one irate traveller to suggest it is a further sign that the airline is in decline.
Environmentalist Jon Dee was flying from Adelaide to Sydney on Sunday night when he was told there was only chicken pie on the menu.
“They said it’s one size fits all now – it’s this or nothing for any flight under three and a half hours,” the frequent flyer said.
“The system for baggage has seemed to have collapsed overnight. For decades I’ve been able to have a vegetarian meal and all of a sudden that’s also collapsed overnight – and there is no reason it should have.”
I’m on the Adelaide to Sydney flight - I’m informed that #Qantas no longer serve vegetarian food on domestic flights (except Perth).
— JON DEE (JonDee.com) (@JonDeeOz) September 18, 2022
Crew said “one size fits all”- Joyce has really screwed @Qantas@10NewsFirst @7NewsAustralia @9NewsAUS @abcnews @smh @dailytelegraph @crikey_news
In a statement, the airline confirmed it was offering one meal option on many domestic routes, which meant only providing chicken pies on some flights.
“During Covid we made some changes to onboard food and service offerings to simplify the service delivery for our crew,” a spokesperson said.
“We now offer a single meal/snack option per flight on our shorter flights, such as a chicken pie or a zucchini and onion frittata. If the option on a particular flight is not suitable for vegetarians, we try to offer an alternative of a small sweet or savoury snack which is vegetarian.”
Qantas said on longer domestic and international flights customers could still book special meals including vegan or gluten-free and dairy-free options.
Dee, who travels frequently for work, said he had been able to get vegetarian options on flights in Australia since the 1990s.
“On Qantas, you could get a proper meal, like pasta,” he said. “They did great vegetarian meals. If it was a pie you would get a vegetarian pie. You had a good choice.
“I went on a Jetstar flight recently and got a better option than Qantas. Not even Ryanair would try this on.”
Virgin and Jetstar still offer vegetarian options on all domestic flights.
Dee said about 10% of Australians ate a plant-based diet and many more had dietary restrictions for religious reasons.
“What [Qantas chief executive] Alan Joyce has done is alienate a significant percentage of Qantas passengers,” he said.
“When you pay for Qantas you pay for full service, that includes a meal and all of sudden if you don’t eat meat, or you have a special meal need, or your religion means you can’t eat a type of food, this decision has alienated you.”
Qantas, which has been under fire for flight delays, cancellations and lost baggage, said on Monday its overall performance had slightly improved in September.
“On-time performance has improved from 52% of flights on time in July, to 67% in August and 71% from 1-14 September,” the airline said. “Mishandled bags are at six per 1,000 passengers overall and at five per 1,000 for domestic – which is at pre-Covid levels.”
