On July 3, a Delta Air Lines (DAL) flight from Detroit to Amsterdam risked recreating the scene from the cult 1980 movie Airplane! when a number of passengers reported feeling sick after consuming the in-flight meal two hours into the flight.
The pilot made the call to divert the Airbus A330 (EADSF) plane carrying nearly 300 people to New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport. A later investigation found that the chicken in the non-vegetarian meal had been spoiled, and Delta ended up pulling it for 75 international flights scheduled to depart from different parts of the world on July 4.
Related: United executive admits food hasn't always hit the mark
With the Fourth of July holiday taking place the next day and not all suppliers across the country working on the usual schedule, Delta ended up pulling the chicken meal flights where it was supposed to be served for the second day in a row out of what it said was "an abundance of caution" — those traveling on one of the flights that would have offered it had only the pasta meal as their in-flight food option.
'Proactively adjusted our in-flight meal service on a number of international flights'
"Out of an abundance of caution, Delta teams have proactively adjusted our in-flight meal service on a number of international flights," an airline spokesperson told CBS News. The representatives also apologized for "the inconvenience and delay" and said that "this not the service Delta is known for."
More on travel:
- Another National Park just made it more difficult for you to visit
- Delta Air Lines makes a baggage change that travelers will like
- United Airlines passenger incident triggers quick response
The spokesperson has not yet revealed whether the chicken option had been cleared to be served on flights departing on Friday, July 5.
"The food safety team has engaged our suppliers to immediately isolate the product and launch a thorough investigation into the incident," Delta said of the initial incident. Some of the travelers aboard Flight 136 reported seeing mold on the chicken they were served.
Related: Cruise tips, tricks and hacks from an expert cruiser
Here are some other food-related incidents to recently take place on planes
While anything that is served aboard a flight is subject to strict food safety rules precisely to avoid the type of situation in which numerous people are sick in a constrained space, food-related incidents periodically occur on flights.
In May, 70 of the 290 passengers on the 11-hour low-cost airline Condor flight back to Germany from the holiday destination of Mauritius became seriously ill and required medical care once the plane landed in Frankfurt. A later investigation revealed that some of the meals served on the flight had been contaminated by the Staphylococcus bacteria that causes food poisoning.
In July 2023, a United Airlines (UAL) plane flying from Houston to Amsterdam had to land in Chicago after one of the first-class passengers grew increasingly livid "over the fact his first choice of meal was not available."
The passenger was led off the plane by law enforcement upon landing. Meanwhile, aviation fans quickly dug up that his seat and flight would typically have a choice between seared beef short rib, lemongrass salmon, and ricotta salata with wild honey manicotti for the main meal — it was never revealed which of these meals the passenger wanted badly enough to get arrested over.
Related: Veteran fund manager picks favorite stocks for 2024
