Airlines partner with restaurants to increase in-flight dining

There’s no limit when it comes to new locations for your favorite restaurants.

You’re probably used to seeing brands and restaurant chains expanding to new cities and locations like sports arenas or even airports. These days, however, eateries appear more frequently in a rarer setting: in the forward cabin at 35,000 feet.

Airlines and restaurants are not exactly new partners — for years, airlines have leveraged popular restaurants and eateries to enhance their brand reputation, sometimes with gimmicks. Report about delicious meals in the sky. Typically, partnerships focus on famous or famous chefs who are tasked with designing bespoke menus for airlines served in premium cabins.

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However, trends in recent years have focused less on creating unique, high-end dining experiences and more on recreating familiar flavors from the ground. Fewer airlines have channeled Danny Meyer’s Gramercy Tavern and chosen Shake Shack instead.

That’s partly due to the changing nature of in-flight service. Meals have virtually disappeared from domestic economy class. Service in first class is simply about having a good meal rather than providing a fine dining experience that is elevated from what is offered on coach. It’s important that the food is good, but nowadays people don’t expect Michelin stars.

This is different in international business class, where meals are still served on board the coach – at least to some extent. The focus on more refined dining persists in many places, even as airlines struggle to return to pre-pandemic service.

Finally, restaurant partnerships can provide airlines with pre-made meals or dishes, outsourced to experts on the ground; Some partnerships also offer a bit of advertising and provide an interesting twist on what’s going on.

Currently, a number of different dishes from the ground are being served on board. Read on to find out what they are.

Delta Air Lines: Shake Shack cheese

Delta Air Lines launched the new restaurant partnership last month when it began offering it Shake Shake’s famous burgers as an in-flight meal option. In what the airline calls a “one-of-a-kind” collaboration, the airline began offering Shake Shack-branded appetizers in first class this month on flights over 900 miles departing from Boston Logan International Airport (BOS). The airline said it will expand the partnership to other hubs throughout 2025.

Shake Shack may be a fast-casual eatery, but the chain has its roots in fine dining. It originally started as a hot dog cart serving dishes in Danny Meyer’s Eleven Madison Park as part of an effort to revive the park of the same name in New York City. It evolved into a permanent kiosk and became popular, leading to massive expansion across New York – then across the country and abroad – throughout the 2010s.

Passengers will receive a Shake Shack cheeseburger with toppings – lettuce, tomato, onion, pickles and “Shack Sauce” – on the side. It’s served with a bag of chips and Caesar salad, along with a dark chocolate Shake Shack brownie for dessert.

We recently boarded a Delta flight to try the burger for ourselves and see if it’s just a brand gimmick or the real thing. We’re happy to report that this burger does, in fact, work just fine. Whether through thorough testing or some kind of magic, Delta and Shake Shack manage to serve up a burger that tastes as good as it did fresh off the ground.

Remember that burgers are only served on board if you order at least 24 hours in advance.

Be sure to Check out our full review.

United Airlines: Magnolia Bakery Banana Pudding

Magnolia Bakery is another modern New York City institution that has expanded significantly in recent years. The brand’s original location in Manhattan’s West Village has since expanded throughout the city as well as other cities in the United States and globally.

Although the chain is best known in New York, it has become increasingly popular outside the city, in part due to some of the pop culture hits of the 2000s. Magnolia’s signature got a nod from Andy Samberg and Chris Parnell in the 2005 short “Lazy Sunday” on “Saturday Night Live” — a video that went viral before “viral” became a thing. The brand was featured on “Sex and the City” and in the movie “The Devil Wears Prada.”

Although it was initially best known for its cupcakes, Magnolia’s incredibly delicious banana pudding has become famous in its own right. It’s airy and thick at the same time. It is creamy and sweet without being cloying. And it’s simply delicious.

United Airlines clearly agrees. As of last month, United served Magnolia’s banana pudding dessert in first class on flights longer than 901 miles. It’s a slightly different recipe than the original – United is serving a frozen-to-thawed version of the treat that Magnolia calls “Banana Pudding Wafer Cookie Bits.” But there’s no mistaking it as a pudding loved by people around the world.

TPG flew United in first class from Denver to Boston in late December to try the pudding. It lives up to expectations, even if it tastes a little milder than the version you buy on the ground.

Of course, United’s overall food service has been somewhat erratic since the pandemic began, so no matter how good the desserts are, the rest of the meal is less predictable.

The kale and romaine salad with grilled green beans I ordered was weaker, with green beans that were under-roasted and, in fact, probably straight from the can. Plus, the dish is really only worth a few bites of, even with the optional chicken on the side. (The Delta Caesar salad served with the Shake Shack burger was better than my main dish here.)

It’s better than flying on a coach, though, where you’re limited to a few boxes of snacks and other items for sale. And the desserts are truly a delightful upgrade.

JetBlue: Delicious Hotel Group and Dig Inn

When JetBlue launched its long-awaited transatlantic service in 2021, it created lots of buzz with a meal experience in economy class (or, as the airline calls it, “Core”).

The airline partnered with New York restaurant chain Dig Inn – a Manhattan lunch staple – to develop high-quality, customizable meals.

The idea behind Dig is that you can create your own meal by choosing from a variety of main dishes and sides, mixing and matching to create the perfect plate. This is instead of the usual model where you choose your main course which is placed on a tray with salad, rolls and dessert all uniform.

It work very wellBut JetBlue has since scaled back its offering a bit. Now, although the airline still offers dishes from Dig in economy class, the selection is more limited and the entrees are cold rather than hot.

However, passengers said the food was still delicious despite the lowered temperature. This is good news because the unique in-flight dining experience is a key differentiator in the airline’s transatlantic service.

However, in Mint’s business class, Hot meals are still available. JetBlue is showcasing its partnership with New York City restaurateurs Delicious Hospitality Group.

Delicious owns trendy restaurants such as Pasquale Jones, Legacy Records and Bar Pasquale. The airline partners with JetBlue to offer its menu on Mint flights, including transatlantic flights, transcontinental flights and flights to the Caribbean and Canada.

The current menu is a collaboration with Bar Pasquale. It includes dishes like orecchiette with spicy vodka sauce, a square slice of Sicilian pizza, pan-roasted chicken with porcini, grilled rigatoni and chicory salad.

There’s also a cocktail menu and wine list on board curated in partnership with Ada’s Place, a cocktail lounge owned by Delicious Hospitality Group, and Parcelle, a Manhattan wine bar and boutique.

Bottom line

A classic joke might ask: “What’s with the airplane food?” But it turns out, there’s a lot going on in the sky. Some foods may not be the best, while some foods continue to shine.

But when airlines partner with restaurants to create dishes and meals served on board, it’s not a gimmick: Sometimes, you get the exact same taste as when on the ground. And it can be a double win, providing marketing for both the airline and the restaurant, while also serving passengers a delicious meal.

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