Inflight catering services – A comparison of central and decentral galleys inside the aircraft cabin, a concept-based approach

Abstract

Inflight catering services are an essential part of the passenger experience, and they play a relevant role for the airline operation model. Taking into account trends toward greater individualization, increasing cost pressure, and the discussion about the sustainability of air travel, all stakeholders in the industry are investigating new catering scenarios. The aircraft kitchen, known as galley, is a central point for these considerations. The general design principles are from the 1960s, and although improvements have been made in terms of ergonomics and energy efficiency, the galley has remained roughly the same since then. It is a place for preparing meals and beverages for passengers, with storage and commissioning tasks. Meals and beverages are usually served using a service cart called trolley. Most of these tasks are performed manually and have a high degree of variability, due to the quantity and type of items and airlines' specific procedures, such as those related to travel classes and aircraft type or service level. This paper challenges the current view of galleys and proposes a concept-based comparison with a centralized and decentralized perspective. Our contribution aims to discuss new inflight catering services resulting from trends such as service individualization and to show the possible impact on the current operations.