Flight 5

Goodbye to Cigarettes and Farewell to Flavorful Meals

I weigh the good and the bad about airplane changes—smoke-free vs. taste-free!

For most travelers the no-smoking rule has been an incredible improvement for the in-flight experience. Back in the 1960s, ’70s, and ’80s, many airline seats had ashtrays located in the back of the seat in front of you or embedded in your seat’s armrest. Yes, there were nonsmoking sections on board airplanes, but unfortunately for the airlines, they were not able to change the laws of physics. In an enclosed cabin space, air circulates and so does cigarette smoke.

In the 1980s, quite often the smoking rows in business class were normally the last two rows, behind which a curtain or a partition separated these rows from the nonsmoking front rows in the economy class. And how was this expected to work? It did not. Cigarette smoke essentially circulated freely about the aircraft cabin. 

But the change all started in 1977 when the Civil Aeronautics Board banned cigar and pipe smoking on all U.S. domestic commercial flights. Can you imagine sitting next to someone on a six-hour transcontinental flight who lit up his pipe three or four times during the flight? I can, because it happened to me on a flight from Montreal to San Francisco. I had a gentleman sitting behind me who smoked his pipe twice during the trip. I exited the aircraft with my clothes reeking of pipe tobacco.

Then in 1989, President George H. W. Bush signed a $12 billion transportation appropriations bill, and buried somewhere in the hundreds of pages was a new law banning smoking on all domestic flights in the United States. This was a charge led by Ralph Nader, and a little more than a decade later, in 2000, the U.S Department of Transportation promulgated a new regulation banning smoking on all international flights arriving or departing from the United States. This is the law that essentially led us to where we are today—NO SMOKING—on board any aircraft, at any time or anywhere.  

The two areas that have deteriorated in the service provided by airlines are the business-class lounges and the food. Today the lounges are almost always overcrowded, and most of the time when I am traveling, I simply avoid using the lounges and instead search out an empty seating area in the airport close to my gate. Recently some airlines, such as Air Canada and United, have started to offer “premium” business lounges for those passengers who are traveling on full-fare business-class tickets. Because so many people traveling in business class use miles to purchase their tickets, or to upgrade from economy to business, the airlines are now trying to differentiate between the two. These new lounges are quieter and offer a much better level of food service than traditional business-class lounges.  

As for airline food, there is not much to say: Economy-class food is abysmal, and business-class food, although considerably more plentiful, leaves much to be desired. Most airline food is frozen and must then be thawed and heated while in the air. Because airplanes normally fly between 33,000 and 39,000 feet, the interior cabin pressure is between 6,000 and 8,000 feet above sea level, making the preparation of any food difficult. The other major problem with serving food at altitude is that one’s sense of smell is significantly reduced by dry air, which, in turn, reduces one’s sense of taste. This is why so much salt is added to airline meals.

However, the airlines continue to try and evolve their food offerings with new taste enhancements. Certain ingredients and spices help overcome the lack of taste. As a result, you are seeing more meals prepared with tomato concentrate and oranges, as well as curry, garlic, and ginger.

If you are flying economy, though, I still maintain the best option is to buy a nice snack at one of the many food options in all airport terminals today. Some of these on-the-go offerings are not too bad!