If you’ve ever had a bad dining experience on an airplane and are still permanently scarred by that rubbery chicken dinner, you’re probably anxiously awaiting the day when the healthy food trend hits airline menus. Guess what? We’re here! Well, almost.
While they aren’t exactly renowned for serving five-star cuisine, a nutrition professor from the City University of New York has rated the best and worst menus of domestic airlines, providing the perfect guide for any frequent flyer.
Over the last 12 years Charles Platkin, also known as the “Airline Food Bully,” has researched and tested numerous airline foods served to economy-class passengers, in the hope of both educating flyers and revamping menus.
Here’s Platkin’s list of the five healthiest airlines:
- Virgin America: The fact that they post their nutritional information on both their website and in-flight travel menus is already a good start. As the number one airline, some of the healthy options include a roasted pear and arugula salad, holiday turkey sandwich, and a protein meal box with hummus, nuts, and tuna. And what may be best of all for the techies out there — you can order your food via a touch screen menu — pretty cool, huh?
- Air Canada: One reason why Air Canada is a top-contender may be due to their partnership with Food with a Conscience, who helped create their nutritional menu. Some of the healthy options include a roasted chicken wrap with salsa, a veggie panini with red pepper hummus, and celery and carrots with ranch dip.
- Alaska Airlines: The Mediterranean tapas box, which includes olives, hummus, almonds, and a dark chocolate bar is not only your best bet on their menu, but it’s also vegan and gluten-free. Other great meals and snacks include fruit and cheese platters, chicken cacciatore skillet, and beef jerky.
- United Airlines: Once again, Tapas makes it to the top of the menu, with a healthy combination of olives, hummus, almonds, and bruschetta. Great healthy meals also include a grilled chicken spinach salad, a Thai chicken wrap, and the always-reliable turkey sandwich.
- Jet Blue Airways: While healthy menu options are already limited in our number 5 airline, stick with their Shape Up meal box, which includes hummus, crackers, natural almonds, ginger mini snaps, and raisins. Healthy snacks include nuts and beef jerky.
Platkin is not a fan of the food on Allegiant Air, Frontier Airlines, and Southwest Airlines, whose menus predominantly consist of sugary, high-calorie snacks and meals. So, if you fly them, try not to eat the food.
