A vision of the future has been cooked up that does away with plane meal services and trolleys.
A vision of the future has been cooked up that does away with plane meal services and trolleys.
The airline catering trolley might soon be scrapped.
A new vision of the future has been cooked up by a US design firm, in which hungry passengers pre-order aircraft meals via mobile phones and collect them from onboard lockers.
The concepts for an automated, on-demand catering service has meals cooked by robots and delivered to a central point for collection.
This brave new world is the vision of Seattle-based design company Teague, who want to convert aircraft galleys into a self-service food retail area. It's a sort of giant vending machine for airplane meals.
Space: The robotic kitchen delivers food orders directly to the galley. Photo / Supplied
The system would deliver menus to passengers' phones - where they can presumably choose their "chicken or beef" without cabin crew having to lift a finger. Then it's up to passengers to collect their prepared order from the catering lockers.
These lockers are opened using near-field communication (NFC) allowing passengers to collect the right order.
Teague's associate creative director, Bernadette Berger, has visions of the system being expanded to duty free shopping and other items.
"Forgot your headphones? Splurge on the noise-cancelling set you have been eyeing. Feeling chilly? Purchase a cosy blanket to share," she wrote in an announcement on the Teague company website.
Transforming the galley into a general retail space with increased choice, she says the concept has potential to "weave marketing messages across physical and digital media."
"The passenger experience is enriched with seamless access to preferred products on the ground and in the air."
What if you forgot to place an order?
Teague insists this is not a problem. Robot chefs never take breaks, and this means passengers can place orders throughout the flight. All they have to do is wait for their meal to be heated and transported up to the galley via elevator for collection.
While the new choice of meals and duty-free might appeal to passengers, the system's potential to free up extra space on aircrafts has caught the interest of airlines.
Bernadette said the design provides "new opportunities remain for adding additional seats and inspiring ceiling architecture."
Machine learning from passenger preference data will be used to help refine inventories and predict needs, minimising food waste.
Soon to be history: The tea trolley has a long service history on planes. Photo / Hulton Archive, Getty Images
"Data-managed inventory will speed the procurement and delivery of food. Customer data will refine personalised service to improve the passenger experience. And the best part? Airlines can fund increased offerings through strategic ancillary revenue. It's a win-win," insists Bernadette.
The is little space in the concept for passengers who have forgotten their phones - one presumes passengers flying on an empty battery will be forced to go hungry.
However, there is another upside to doing away with the trolley service: No more being trapped in the aisle by the tea and coffee run while in desperate need of the toilets.
