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I was yesterday years old when I learned something interesting about Delta Air Lines’ A321neo aircraft.
It’s something trivial but apparently can cause some inconveniences during First Class meal service.
Not Enough Oven Space?
First, let’s get up to speed on the term “FEBO.” This is slang for “Front Even, Back Odd.” That is how Delta flight attendants are supposed to record (or verify, I guess, for pre-orders) First Class passengers’ meal orders on flights. (I believe this is only for narrow-body aircraft. Perhaps a Delta employee can jump in the Comments section and verify this.)
The flight attendants start with passengers in the front rows and work toward the back of the cabin during even-numbered flights.
On odd-numbered flights, the passengers sitting in the back of the cabin should get the first crack.
Redditor “_AmeliaPond_” says she’s a Delta flight attendant. (For clarity, let’s assume Amelia is a she.) She wrote in this post that when you fly a Delta A321ceo, “you can preselect your meal, but if it’s a 321neo you can’t, so with an even flight number you want to sit towards the front of (First Class).”
Now, I haven’t ridden a Delta A321neo since its inaugural flight on May 20, 2022. But I could pre-order my (delicious) meal a week ahead of time.
Maybe something changed since then? Perhaps pre-ordering availability depends on city pairings and which stations have catering?
But here’s where the “inside baseball” got interesting.
For reference, the A321neo’s First Class cabin seats 20 people.
“Now, the problem with the 321neo is that the oven just cannot accommodate hot meals for all FC pax,” Ms. Pond explains. “There is only enough room for 16 hot meals. So, catering is supposed to provide only enough hot meals to fit the oven. (So dumb!) A typical oven will fit three hot meal plates per rack, but the 321neo oven can only accommodate 2 hot meal plates per rack…
“I have had a situation where catering delivered more hot meals than could fit the oven, but luckily a couple wanted to eat their meal later. But it would have been very awkward to have to complete a meal service in two steps.”
I wonder, then, if it’s helpful to volunteer to eat later when flying the A321neo — hunger level providing? 🙂
Also, what if you’re like me (read: picky)?
“If you are able to preorder, please do because there is no guarantee that we will have your preferred meal choice,” she reminds passengers. “Also, if you have dietary restrictions, either request a special meal or bring your own food.”
This, of course, assumes pre-ordering works.
Final Approach
Delta A321neos apparently lack sufficient oven space for enough meals for all First Class meals to be heated simultaneously. (Yes, what a wonderful #FirstWorldProblem we’re discussing!)
But if you can pre-order your meal, that’s the way to go. Barring that, be aware of FEBO — and bon appetit!
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Doesn’t really make sense to me because don’t the ceo and neo have the same number of F seats?
On the A330, the order of service seems determined by where the galley is located. I flew Delta One business-class on an A330 a couple days ago. An odd-numbered flight. I was served first. The galley was directly behind my seat, 9A. However, the pursuer took meal orders or confirmed meal pre-orders from the front, meaning I was last.
The absolute worst planes for Delta domestic first-class are the 737-900 because the galley is too small. And on the A321, Delta seems to only staff one flight attendant in first-class, which means service is poor unless she pulls a flight attendant from the back to assist with drinks or run meal trays back and forth.
I believe during the pandemic Delta reduced the number of flight attendants by one on many or most aircraft.
But the worst experience may be the Air France aircraft with two business-class cabins or sections; one large and one mini. I did the 777 recently. The galley separated the two sections or cabins of business-class. Instead of having a flight attendant for each section or cabin, they had one for each row. They started at the first row, meaning it was almost 20-25 minutes for the flight attendant to reach the last row of the second section or mini-cabin.
These things aside, what drives me crazy are the number of unpublished exceptions domestically without a hot meal or even a real meal. Delta is still doing this without disclosing. Routes like Austin and Tucson don’t get a real meal.
What a way to discriminate odd numbers. There is something odd on that policy
Sadly, FEBO is a “rule” by Delta for domestic flights but is often “forgotten” by flight attendants. If you can pre-order, best to do that, but otherwise you are at the mercy of the flight attendant running the FC cabin. Same with pre-departure beverages. Delta’s front cabin service has become very hit and miss depending entirely upon the crew working the flight. International is a different story. Please make sure to send comments to Delta if they don’t follow the rules and you will get some SkyPesos and hopefully that crew will be retrained.
Don’t know about Delta, but for many years American’s policy in First/Business has been similar, but maybe opposite: I think they take orders and serve from the front on odd-numbered flights and from the back on even-numbered flights. Always seemed fair to me.
The insufficient oven space issue just seems like bad planning.
Oh brother is all I can say……Is Ms. Pond new? Any seasoned Delta flight attendant will tell you that hot meal demand is trending lower and lower every year. Especially now with the ability to preorder, you know precisely what almost everyone is gonna have before they board. As more people are trending vegetarian and healthier, the preferred options are the cold entrees. Example breakfast……charcuterie boards and quinoa yogurt cereal plates are much more preferred over a rubbery eggs. At lunch and dinner, chicken caesar salads, shrimp salads, and mediterranean deli plates are in much higher demand than some red meat option. Usually we are left with the hot entrees at the end if there are meal refusals. 16 spaces in a 20 seat oven is more than enough space. You might only have 6-8 hot meals anyway.