Airline asks passengers to 'skip' their inflight meal and divides opinion

'What's the deal with airline food?' might be a staple of the stand-up comedy routine, but an actual airline has joined in by asking passengers if they'll skip eating anything and it's left people split.

Chowing down on a tray full of cold, unappetizing and largely bland food in a space so cramped one elbow bump is liable to spill your meal has never been the most appealing of dining experiences.

Plus there's all the germs swarming around inside an airplane cabin, with the seatback trays being one of the least hygienic places you can possibly find on the plane, and this is meant to be your table for the meal.

The thing is, when you're stuck inside a flying metal bee for a few hours, your choice of eatery is very limited to either the snacks you brought on board with you or whatever the airline is willing to dish out.

Sometimes you are simply very hungry with nowhere else to go and face several hours before the plane will land, in those cases there is no other alternative than airline food.

However, Japan Airlines is now asking customers to consider going the entire flight without a meal after emailing customers about their new option.

Hugh Mitton / Alamy Stock Photo

Japan Airlines has asked customers to consider making the 'ethical choice' of foregoing having a meal on some of their flights.

Since 2020 they have been trialling this scheme, which the airline says is part of their plan to 'reduce its environmental impact' by cutting down on plastic usage and slashing the number of meals they serve to 'reduce food waste'.

The airline found that on many of their flights customers preferred to sleep through the whole thing rather than be woken up to have their meal.

For every person who skipped the in-flight meal, Japan Airlines said they would be donating towards school lunch projects for children in developing nations suffering from hunger.

Customers of the airline have been sharing that they've recently received an email from Japan Airlines telling them about the scheme, which hasn't gone down well with everyone.

One person said it was an 'interesting concept for charity' and a 'good initiative', but admitted it probably wouldn't be all that popular with people on long flights, while another said they might like the idea as they didn't want people to be eating 'smelly food on a plane'.

A third said they 'quite like the idea of having the option to eliminate waste' and would probably get something to eat in the airport terminal before their flight if they could skip the in-flight meal.

EQRoy / Alamy Stock Photo

However, not everyone agreed, with one person declaring, 'no I prefer a meal and drinks, especially in the pointy end of the aircraft', though they might be expecting fancier fare than the standard airline meal as they liked having champagne and steak during their flight.

Someone else was furious, claiming that the airline was 'weaselling out' of providing a meal included in the price of the plane ticket.

Branding the airline as 'ridiculous' and accusing them of hiding behind an ethical stance, they declared they'd 'purposely take the meal and waste it just to make a point', so it's safe to say someone's not a fan of the idea.

Others said they'd only skip the in-flight meal if they could get a discount on the cost of their flight.

However, the airline also states that 'other beverages and snacks would be available on request' if passengers feel a bit peckish.