In-flight food shortage on Easyjet flights
Passengers on Scotland’s biggest airline have been left with major shortages of food and drink on board its flights because of staffing problems with a new catering supplier.
The lack of supplies has plagued Easyjet’s services since Dnata took over its inflight catering in late March, The Scotsman has learned.
The Dubai-based company said it was short of staff because of the time taken for applicants to complete UK Government security checks.
Easyjet said staff being granted air side passes – for the postsecurity part of airports – was among contributory factors.
The airline said it was now giving passengers advance warning of the problem so they could buy food and drink in the airport terminal before boarding.
Cabin crew apologised to passengers on one Gatwick to
Glasgow flight on Thursday after telling them there was “no food available, very little in the bar and no duty free”.
Some fliers were surprised to be informed the problem had been going on “for quite a while”.
A passenger on an Edinburgh-paris flight last month said: “They had very limited stock and just apologised to customers.
"They said a variety of snacks and drinks were not available.”
Announcing the contract on March 10, the catering firm said it “marks a significant milestone for Dnata’s growing catering and retail business, cementing its position as a leading end-to-end in-flight and airport service provider globally.
The company said the deal would help Easyjet “further enhance its retail range onboard and customer satisfaction”. Easyjet director of in-flight retail Simon Cox said the contract with Dnata was
“an opportunity to transform our in-flight retail service” and stressed the airline was “confident they are the right partners to support us in realising our ambitions to deliver an industry-leading, innovative onboard retail experience for our customers across Europe”.
Conservative peer Baroness Foster, a former party transport spokesperson, tweeted on Friday about a Liverpoolmalaga flight: “@easyjet text to say delayed and no food or drink available on board. Not good enough!”
@Jackkaar tweeted: “Utterly appalling–nofoodonoutward or inward flight from Faro.”
A Dnata spokesperson said: “In line with the industry, we are currently finding it a challenging environment to secure new team members, given the long lead times required as part of government-mandated security and background checks. "As result, we are facing delays on some operations.
"We apologise for any inconvenience and are working closely with our suppliers and
partners to overcome these challenges to ensure the best possible service, including a full range of products, as soon as possible.”
An Easyjet spokesperson said: “We have recently moved to a new in-flight retail provider, Dnata. "Unfortunately, in the UK we are experiencing some issues delivering catering to aircraft at some of our UK airports.” "We are working closely with our supplier to resolve these issues.”