Why Inflight Catering Is the Weakest Link in the Airline Tech Stack

Why Inflight Catering is the Weakest Link in the Aviation Tech Stack

Airlines have poured billions into technology over the last decade, transforming everything from predictive maintenance to crew scheduling to customer service. Systems that used to update once a day like ticket prices now ingest and analyze data constantly, optimizing real-time demand to maximize efficiency and profits.

Yet one of the most operationally complex and mission-critical functions still lags far behind: inflight catering.

While airlines have woven data and automation into many parts of their tech stack, catering feels frozen in time. Ordering and provisioning meals remains dominated by disconnected tools: stand-alone legacy systems, spreadsheets, countless emails between planners and contractors, and last-minute phone calls to airports. Instead of operating as a modern, integrated system, catering still functions like a collection of loosely connected handoffs. It’s a fragile and slow process that feels increasingly out of step with how the rest of the airline runs.

This matters because the aviation industry is nothing like the stable, predictable one of decades past. Flight schedules now flex constantly; demand for tailored meals (from vegan and gluten-free to region-specific diets) has soared; and every airline has sustainability targets that hinge on cutting waste and emissions. Yet most catering decisions are still locked in days before departure with little room to adjust based on up-to-the-minute load or passenger forecasts. That friction shows up in predictable, measurable ways across operations.

Small inefficiencies compound fast. On flights where load factors dip unexpectedly, planes often depart with too much food on board, adding weight and burning more fuel. On high-demand sectors or last-minute gate changes, meal shortages lead to substitutions, irritated passengers, and stressed crews. Product consistency can be a guessing game across hubs and partners. These aren’t dramatic headlines, but they are pervasive: waste from untouched meals alone account for 65% of all cabin refuse.

Because these problems unfold without a centralized, data-driven view, they don’t earn the same scrutiny as a crew scheduling meltdown or a major IT outage. While flight delays and maintenance hiccups are tracked with precision, catering complaints are often anecdotal at best, and usually only flagged after the fact by crew surveys or social media gripes. 

Lacking systems to optimize for real-time load, substitutions, waste reduction, and actual consumption, airlines are essentially leaving money on the table by not maximizing efficiency and cost containment.

Part of the reason catering technology hasn’t kept pace is historical: it’s often been treated as a cost center, not a strategic lever. But that view is rapidly shifting. Today’s travelers expect choice and quality, and food and beverage has become a major competitive advantage for leading carriers.

Meanwhile, airlines are facing relentless pressure to cut costs and meet ESG commitments without degrading the onboard experience. Meeting these dual pressures is incredibly difficult using only spreadsheets and disconnected systems.

Emerging catering platforms promise to change this by integrating with booking, load, and inventory systems so that airlines can move from static, top-down plans to adaptive, data-informed decision-making. That doesn’t mean adding complexity for its own sake; in many cases, it means the opposite—reducing the burden on planners by automating forecasting and highlighting anomalies in real time. Airlines need systems that not only predict demand but learn from past trends and adjust as variables shift.

When this happens, improvements ripple far beyond food service. Better alignment between catering and operations can shave weight off aircraft, cut waste disposal costs, reduce fuel burn, and enhance the passenger experience by minimizing stockouts and substitutions. In an industry where margins are notoriously thin and genuine differentiation is hard to find, strengthening what has long been its weakest link may be one of the most tangible advantages still available.