US Airways 554: PHX-PVR

Mexico. Vacation. All inclusive. No work. 

Who cares about that? Let’s talk about the food on the flight down to PVR.

My journey began at SFO on an early morning flight in order to connect through PHX to the final destination of PVR. One thing that has struck me about US airways on this journey is their punctuality. Both my flights left and arrived early, unlike Air Canada which always seems to have some excuse for their late departure. Regardless, this journey has been a fresh breath of air in comparison. 

The SFO flight was unremarkable thus no post shall be made about the 1.5 hour journey to the PHX hub of US airways. I had a cup of tea and a few snacks from the snack basket, once again, unremarkable and unworthy of a post. 

On the contrary, the flight down to PVR has a meal service; “Lunch” as it’s listed in the itinerary. No written menu was provided - only a verbal “Spinach Tortellini, or Barbecue Chicken” was given from the stewardess to indicate today’s sustenance options. I chose the “Barbecue Chicken” with a note that the quotations will become clear as you read through the post. 

US Airways is currently in the process of being absorbed into American Airlines. As an elite member of American Airlines, I was able to snag a free upgrade at check-in time, and sitting at the front of the plane was definitely worth the 6 AM wakeup 24 hours prior to my flight. 

Onto the food. To start, I requested a scotch, and it was served alongside some nuts. Not warm nuts, just nuts. I realized how nice warm nuts are after the serving of these nuts which felt like they just came out of a refrigerator.

Soon after, the meal was served and this is where the quotations around barbecue chicken come in. There was no barbecuing in the preparation of this dish. There was no barbecue taste from the dish. There was no barbecue period in the context of this dish, and I’m utterly confused to it’s naming…

That being said, here are some shots. They’ve introduced American Airlines branding to the cutlery wrap as well as the salt and pepper sleeve which was a default meal provision - *cough* Cathay Pacific *cough*.

Frankly just looking at the dish, it’s more reminiscent of turkey and gravy. The gravy was tasty and the flesh of whatever poultry was adequate. 

The salad was fresh and had a nice mango/cucumber/red onion salsa as a topping. The dressing as nice as well, but that’s all I have to say about the dish. The salad was the highlight.

Rice dishes on planes will always receive comments from me about adventures in textures from soft, perfectly cooked grains, to the semi-stuck crunchy outliers in contact with the surface of the dish. 

Here’s to hoping my upgrade clears on my return (it probably won’t).

Postscript: The upgrade cleared!