CONNECTIONS
14
FEBRUARY 2013
•
HEMISPHERESMAGAZINE.COM
BYFEEDINGCUSTOMERS
onairplanes zipping
through the sky at close to 600 mph, United
gives new meaning to the term “fast food.”
The airline maintains kitchens at airports in
Cleveland, Denver, Honolulu, Houston and
Newark, and partners with 180 different ven-
dors to keep the pantries stocked on flights
around the globe. The United kitchens alone
keep 2,200 workers busy.
TheHoustonkitchenprepares 30,000meals
adayduringpeakseason;thesamegoesforthe
Newark kitchen. For those meals, the airline
boards 2millionpounds of chickenand 1.5mil-
lionpounds of beef every year, which includes
300,000
pounds of Sterling Silver Premium
beef for United’s premium-cabinmeals.
In numbers, here’s what it takes to keep
customers satisfied system-wide every year:
• 50
million complimentary meals
worldwide
• 2.3
million snack boxes
• 3.5
million domestic fresh products
• 1.6
million à la carte products
• 1.2
million bo les of premiumwine
• 22
million liters of water
• 10
million quarts of orange juice
• 55
million pounds of ice
• 44
million cans of soda, which comes
to about 4.12 million gallons of soda
Bon appetit!
ASKTHE PILOT
With Captain Mike Bowers
Q: Pilots often report
that there’s a smooth
ride ahead. Does this
mean they can talk to
pilots in other planes?
A:
We normally don’t
talk to other pilots as
much as we listen to
what they are saying to
the air traffic control-
ler. There are several
aircraft on a common
radio frequency, which
is controlled by an air
traffic controller. While
communication is
normally between the
controller and the pilots
(
not pilot to pilot), we
can hear the conversa-
tions going on and are
aware if a plane ahead
of us is experiencing
turbulence. We can
also ask the controller
for “ride reports,” and
he or she will query
the flights ahead of us
to see if their ride is
smooth. Many United
aircraft give you the
option to listen to these
conversations on Chan-
nel 9 on the in-flight
entertainment system.
Do you have a question
for Captain Bowers?
You can write to him at
askthepilot@united.com.
Fast Food
