F
rom the time he began his career
in the airline industry 23 years
ago, Gerry McLoughlin has been
on a mission: overcoming the “mystery-
meat syndrome” usually associated with
economy-class food. “I think it’s impor-
tant for our customers to be able to look
at their food and knowwhat it is,” he says.
“
For so many years, airlines put chopped-
up meat in some kind of sauce because it
was more economical. But we try to pro-
vide something that is easily recognizable
…
and tasty.”
As executive chef and senior manager
of food and beverage planning for United,
McLoughlinwields a lot of influence over
what is—or is not—served onboard. He
heads a team of menu planners respon-
sible for every United menu everywhere
in the world. “We have a Congress of
Chefs, which is made up of restaurant
chefs, that we use as a think tank to
keep current on what’s happening in the
restaurant industry, what’s in demand,”
he says. “With my team, we think of how
to make best practices in the restaurant
industry work for an airline.”
Making food service work for an airline
presents challenges that most restaurant
chefs never have to consider—such as
preparing 200 economy-class meals that
hold up to cooking and reheating but do
not exceed the 2-inch height restrictions
that airplane food carts impose.
“
People don’t fly airlines for a particular
type of food,” says McLoughlin, “but we
try to have a li le something for every-
one. If you’re going to a particular place,
such as India or Japan, our food is focused
on the regional aspects. We partner with
regional chefs to make sure we’re ge ing
our flavor profile right.”
McLoughlin and his team plan four
separate menus each year, with the air-
line offering each menu for a month at
a time. They consider how to keep the
food consistent, regardless of whether it’s
prepared in one of the airline’s five U.S.
kitchens or at a kitchen elsewhere in the
world, and search for new technologies
to help in this effort (such as
sous vide
,
a technique that enables food to hold
up to cooking and reheating without
drying out).
The team also considers options for
health-conscious travelers—although
McLoughlin notes that while people
say they want to eat healthy, “in United
BusinessFirst, the steak is usually the
first item that’s gone.” The same goes
for United Economy, where surveys had
indicated customers wanted a low-calorie
snack box, but that turned out to be a very
low-selling item.
Growing up in Dublin as the son of
a Guinness plant engineer, McLoughlin
always wanted to be a chef. His dad told
him, “You’ll never be rich, but you’ll never
go hungry.” After training at Cathal
Brugha Street (a.k.a. the Dublin Insti-
tute of Technology’s College of Catering),
McLoughlin began work at the Shel-
bourne Hotel in Dublin.
It was a TV program about Chicago’s
St. Patrick’s Day celebration that changed
the direction of McLoughlin’s life. A er
seeing it, he was inspired to journey to
Chicago, where he worked stints at the
city’s The Metropolitan Club and other
establishments. Then came a chance
encounter with a colleague wearing an
airline T-shirt who suggested he trywork-
ing for United.
“
I never expected to find myself at an
airline, but it opened a whole new world
to me,” McLoughlin says. “If you work
in hotels and you want to do a Peruvian
menu, you go to the library and do
research. When you work for an airline,
you get on a plane, go to Peru to talk to
local chefs, walk through themarkets and
learn about local cuisine—to not just read
about a product, but to go touch it and
taste it in its home environment.”
Though McLoughlin has made a pro-
fession of food, it’s his wife, Jane, who
handles cooking for their family, which
includes 22-year-old Shamus, 19-year-old
Sean and 16-year-old Molly. “My wife
claims I can dirty 12 pots just making a
sandwich,” he says, “so I get thrown out
of the kitchen except on holidays when
I get to cook.”
High-Flying Flavors
Keeping customers satisfied at 35,000 feet gives
GerryMcLoughlin a taste of success
BY A. AVERYL RE
12
FEBRUARY 2013
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
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