Qantas business, economy meals: what do you want to see?
Have your say on what Qantas should be serving on domestic flights.
By David Flynn, October 8 2024
Qantas last week revealed some of the new dishes on its refreshed domestic business and economy menus, and the reaction from Executive Traveller readers in comments shared on our article were not favourable.
Of course, regardless of the airline, inflight meals generally come in for criticism.
It can be argued that most people don’t realise how relatively complicated this all is – from dishes being prepared en masse off-site and chilled or refrigerated before being loaded onto the plane, plus the limited kitchen galley space to store and prepare them.
There’s also no guarantee that all flyers share the same opinion on what makes a good inflight meal.
“Get the basics right, like a good bacon and egg roll for breakfast” suggested ET reader flyme2themoon – to which LostInTransit replied “Have you ever had a good bacon & egg roll on a flight? They have to be made up many hours before and then reheated, which is never good for a b&e roll.”
LostInTransit also added that many people would look down on bacon & egg rolls as not being suitably “premium” for Qantas.
PassRob asked why Qantas can’t return to the days when a business class breakfast “comprised of a poached egg, slice of bacon and a grilled tomato or scrambled eggs with cooked spinach and grilled tomato, with yogurt to complement.”
There was also some kickback against Qantas’ latest domestic business class menu additions such as smoked salmon bagels and miso-glazed chicken breast salads as being “trendy” inner-city cafe fodder.
Reader Tony Boyd suggested that for domestic economy meals, Qantas need look no further than the likes of UK chain Pret a Manger for ideas on “great sandwiches and wraps and salad bowls” along with increasingly-popular Poke Bowls.
Traveller90 took it a step further: their take is that Qantas should adopt a ‘buy on board’ model in economy, “as long as the menu was worthy of purchasing from.”
(Our 2c is that we can’t see this happening, given that Qantas is steadfast in differentiation itself from competitor Virgin Australia by dint of being a ‘full-service’ airline where every ticket includes meals or snacks, free baggage, and free WiFi, where available.)
So today we’re throwing it open to Executive Traveller readers to sound out on what meals they’d suggest to Qantas as being appealing and sensible for domestic business and economy flights.
Next time you step onto a Qantas plane for a domestic flight, what would you like to see served up on your tray table?
Keep it reasonable and realistic, and share your thoughts below.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
30 May 2013
Total posts 381
In international economy, Qantas needs to being back a proper tray service that includes an appetiser. The difference in quality and quantity between Qantas and say Singapore, Emirates, Malaysian - in fact most full service carriers, is massive. The Qantas offering looks more like a buy on board service that you'd see on a low cost carrier. In domestic economy, please just bring back some lunch time sandwiches and a proper hot meal of an evening. Back to basics and how it used to be, please!
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2555
Thanks Ryan - on the domestic front, I absolutely agree with you that some great sandwiches or wraps should be sufficient for lunch at least shorter domestic flights up to say two hours. Maybe also one of those small pots of yoghurt with some nuts or something, on the side. Let's face it, a lot of people in economy will have eaten at at the airport, either in the lounge or elsewhere, so it's not like there is much of an excuse for people 'starving' on a 2-3 hour flight!
26 Sep 2023
Total posts 27
I agree with the Intl Y tray thing. I think the quality of the main dish is actually pretty good, but it looks messy, is awkward balancing everything, and surely a loose bread roll just leaves more mess on the tray and floor.
Intl J is pretty good, but for the love of all that is holy we need to move past Neil's Weeds. Although there is more food and choice (particularly for drinks) on SQ J, I'd rank the actual quality equal with QF.
21 Apr 2019
Total posts 20
They used to do a good birchermueseli & smoothie.
I don't think eggs reheat well.
24 Oct 2010
Total posts 2555
Bircher muesli and a smoothie, that's a perfect option for a light healthy breakfast on a short flight. Agree with you on reheating eggs. Now freshly prepared scrambled eggs, those can be done on board, on a recent Qantas flight they were whipping them up in the galley, adding in some butter as they went, and they really hit the spot.
03 May 2013
Total posts 674
Get rid of that pathetic, sad and embarrasing 'salad' of ripped up lettuce leaves served in J and F. Try adding some feta, olives, capsicum and tomato? Come on Neil.
22 Sep 2017
Total posts 88
On red-eyes, skip the dinner so we can go to sleep without waiting an hour for the tray to be cleared. On flights departing after 10pm everyone on board has had dinner already. Just offer a good breakfast and coffee in the morning.
20 Nov 2015
Total posts 468
There's no need for Qantas or any airline to over-complicate things, especially on short domestic hops. Long east-west routes, that's a different matter, but I am in the 'keep it simple' camp. Sandwiches, wraps, salad bowls and Poke bowls, all good in economy. Business class meals should definitely reflect the premium cabin and the very premium fare people are paying. Luke Mangan's old VA business class meals were great, nothing fancy, just did up-market meals which were a delight. Crew just need to hustle on short flights like SYD-MEL and SYD-BNE, get orders or preferences in before take-off and start service as soon as level flight is reached.
26 Sep 2023
Total posts 27
From memory, the 737s get an additional crew member SYD-CBR, SYD-OOL and SYD-MEL (but not BNE) to complete the service. Or did that get cut when they dropped the hot dinner in Y?
Etihad - Etihad Guest
23 Apr 2019
Total posts 10
Special meals reintroduced on ecomony domestic flights less than the new 3.5 hour minimum.
Not providing anything to eat to the significant proportion of the population that has a vegetarian diet or a religiously based need such as halal, kosher etc is unacceptable. They got rid of these pre-booked options during Covid and it's high time they were reintroduced.
Qantas has to decide whether it is a full service airline or not. Otherwise why pay a premium to fly it?
21 Apr 2017
Total posts 18
Travel Adl to Tsv regularly on direct flight at 11.30am in business, and the main is always a toastie which is inedible. Not good enough for a 3 hour flight, so it will be interesting to see what is served on tomorrows flight. All I require is good normal food and not the rubbish that is served up in most city restaurants. Being a country person, steak & veg, fish and a good salad with the old fashioned ingredients go well. At moment we don't get what we pay for.
While at it, why are they only serving craft beer on flights and not a normal larger beer like crown, boags and VB. Even bailies has been removed.
Tomorrow will be interesting, here's hoping.
Qantas - Qantas Frequent Flyer
26 Nov 2012
Total posts 122
Think it is interesting the comments so far prove that you can’t please everyone.
On a slight side issue, I just came back from my first ever SQ flight - Cairns to Singapore return J. I could not believe the difference, especially when you add book the cook to the Qantas offering. I’m very familiar with Qantas and Qatar and I have to say Singapore was pretty impressive.
But back to the issue at hand. I currently refuse to part with my cash phone Qantas domestic business class because the offering is so appalling. I generally fly Melbourne Cairns a few times a month and for the last two years I have been flying virgin in business and it is much better in my opinion. The food is pretty basic, but it’s a reasonable size portion and it’s not fancy, but it is all that you need. Qantas could easily outdo them by not running out of options before the end of the cabin service and maybe adding a better desert and entree. But they won’t.
One thing I do think Virgin to very well, is not pretend to give you a tragic slice of bread with a very cold slab of butter, (which I know is because the trays are kept refrigerated and they are put on before hand) I’m not crazy about cheese and crackers, but at least you’re not trying to spread your thin slice of bread with a rock hard lump of butter.
I think for domestic economy, I would love to go back to simple sandwiches during the day, and even happily in the morning, and maybe for the evening meal a Poké Bowl or warm salad. Ditch the Lindt balls please time for something a little bit more interesting. Add a gluten-free muesli bar as well and most will be happy
All this said I travel regularly in Europe and the states, and honestly, we don’t do too badly. I would hate to see us drop to those levels.
28 Mar 2018
Total posts 31
My beef - or chicken?- is less about food quality, which I find reasonable on QF, but poor use of technology which could make for a smoother and more personalised inflight experience.
Bring back the option to pre order the meal in economy. This would include cross country flights to Perth or Darwin.
There was also an option to select no meal.
How about options to order via the app or screens? This would minimise trolleys in the aisles or repeat trips for crew to respond to call bells.
TBH I am happy with QF's economy meals and I like the boxes. Unlike a tray, I can scrunch an empty box up, put it in the air sick bag for rubbish. My seat space is reclaimed faster.
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