An angry flyer complained about the airline on a subreddit dedicated to Qantas, referencing their recent flights between Sydney and Brisbane, and Darwin and Adelaide.
“All I can say with my recent experience is EW,” they wrote in the caption.
The snapshots showed what seemed to be napkins stuffed into a vent above them, a grubby-looking window shade, and two meals, reports news.com.au.
One meal consisted of a breakfast of eggs, sausage, tomato and a hash brown, and the other was what appeared to be a curry with potatoes.
“The breakfast was inedible and I’m not usually fussy with food,” they vented, going on to say that the potatoes were “OK”.
Qantas informed news.com.au that due to there being no flight details in the social media post, they couldn’t give any more information regarding the incident. However, they assured the publication that “all of our aircraft are cleaned with a disinfectant between flights and at the end of the day, and undergo deep cleaning on a regular basis”.
“The presentation of one of the meals is not what they normally look like but generally, we’ve had great feedback on the new dishes and the larger portions we’ve recently introduced,” the spokeswoman said.
While some critics called the pictures “appalling” and “embarrassing”, others defended the meal, saying it wasn’t all that bad.
“This is nightmare fuel! And you pay for it!” one person wrote.
“I was served this breakfast recently and agree. Inedible and disgraceful,” another complained.
“I’d eat the food,” one person confessed.
The picture shows a dirty window shade and a meal. Photo / Reddit
“Doesn’t look fabulous but tastes all right. I don’t expect much from cattle class.”
“I find the food is often better than it looks,” another shared.
“The experience of eating out of a box isn’t ideal but I assume it’s a lot easier, lighter to load and simpler to manage.”
Another traveller made the suggestion that if airlines are serving meals in boxes, they should instead consider offering fast-food meals during the flight.
“Why don’t they just do a deal with a major chain like Hungry Jack’s or Oporto,” they suggested. “No one even wants to eat much, just take a pretty pic for insta. They’re really shooting themselves in the foot.”
Australia's national carrier has faced huge criticism in the past year amid a string of controversies, but has promised to repair its reputation. Photo / 123rf
The Australian airline has faced huge backlash in the past year amid several controversies, but has vowed to fix its bad reputation.
Vanessa Hudson, the new Qantas chief executive, promised to put customers first when she stepped into the role in September. Former CEO Alan Joyce stepped down from the position two months earlier.
In a follow-up clip posted that month, she apologised for letting customers down.
“I know that we have let you down in many ways and for that, I am sorry,” Hudson said.
“We haven’t delivered the way we should have. And we’ve often been hard to deal with.”
She went on to say that Qantas would earn back flyers’ trust with its actions.
