Flight Attendant Guide: What to Do When Catering Arrives Wrong

You've received your catering. Something is wrong. You have 30 minutes until your passengers board and 25 minutes until pushback. Here's exactly what to do — for every scenario.

First: Assess and Categorize the Problem

Not all catering problems are equal. Your first job is to classify what's wrong so you can respond appropriately:

• Category A — Correctable: Missing items that can be sourced, temperature issues that can be addressed with your galley equipment, labeling confusion that can be resolved by calling the kitchen
• Category B — Manageable: Wrong item substituted with an acceptable alternative, portion discrepancy that doesn't affect the overall service
• Category C — Critical: Allergen error (an item intended for an allergic passenger contains the allergen), missing special dietary meal with no safe substitute, incorrect temperature with potential food safety implications

Category A and B problems require fast action but not panic. Category C problems require immediate escalation and may require holding the aircraft if the resolution can't be confirmed in time.

T-30 Minutes: Call the Kitchen Immediately

For any Category A or B problem, your first call is to your caterer's dispatch line — not their general number, but the direct operations line. Have your order number ready. DFK's dispatch: +1 (866) 328-7905.

Tell them specifically: what is missing or wrong, how many people are affected, and what your departure window is. A competent kitchen dispatch will assess immediately whether they can resolve the issue within your window. If they're within 20 minutes of the airport and the item is in house, that's fixable. If they're 45 minutes away and you have 25 minutes, they'll tell you that and help you find an alternative.

Do not spend 15 minutes on hold trying to reach a broker's customer service line. A broker can't fix this — they have to call the restaurant and wait, and you'll be wheels-up before they get back to you. This is a fundamental difference between a real flight kitchen and a brokered operation.

T-30 Minutes: Category C — Allergen Error

An allergen error is not a problem to solve quietly. If an item intended for a passenger with a documented allergy contains that allergen — or if you're not certain whether it does — the item does not get served. Period.

Steps:

1. Set the item aside. Do not serve it to anyone.
2. Call your caterer dispatch immediately and request confirmation of ingredients.
3. Notify your flight coordinator and captain of the situation.
4. Document the discrepancy in your post-flight report.

If the allergic passenger will not have an appropriate meal for the flight, this should be communicated to them on boarding with an explanation and apology. It is better to explain a dietary accommodation failure on the ground than to manage an anaphylactic reaction at altitude.

Once Airborne: Managing the Uncorrectable

If you discover a catering problem after the door closes — items you didn't catch during the ground inspection — your options depend on what's wrong:

Missing non-critical item: Adapt. A missing cheese course from a multi-course service can often be managed by adjusting portions on the courses you do have. A missing beverage type can be flagged and apologized for.

Temperature issue: Use your galley equipment to correct. If cold items are borderline in temperature, note it but assess whether the food is safe to serve (below 40°F = safe, above 40°F for more than 2 hours = discard). When in doubt, don't serve.

Labeling confusion: If you're unsure what an unlabeled item contains and you have passengers with dietary restrictions, do not serve that item to the restricted-diet passenger. Serve it to passengers without restrictions if it appears safe and appropriate.

Post-Flight: Document Everything

Every catering discrepancy should be documented before the debrief fades. Note: what was ordered, what arrived, what was missing, what was wrong, what you did to address it, and how passengers responded. This documentation:

• Supports a refund or credit claim with your caterer
• Builds the pattern record needed to justify changing vendors
• Protects you legally if a passenger has a dietary reaction

If you use DFK and something arrives wrong, document it and call us. We audit every reported discrepancy and address it — in service recovery and in kitchen procedure.