Delta is Bringing Back Hot Food to First Class [New Entrées, Desserts]

Updated: September 18, 2022, 3:19am CDT

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What Will My Flight Offer?
Final Thoughts

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Beginning in March 2022, Delta will be returning hot food to its first class cabins on domestic flights — a sign of a return to normalcy following the height of the COVID-19 pandemic. Up to this point, most flights both over and under this length have received prepackaged snacks or boxed meals, but soon we will see a return to plated meals and some additional revisions to the meal service.

What Will My Flight Offer?

Each flight will offer a different service depending on the destination, routing, and length. In short, meal service levels return to mostly pre-2020 offerings.

Delta One

Delta One seats on Delta’s most premium transcontinental routes (New York (JFK) to both Los Angeles (LAX) and San Francisco (SFO), among others), has had a return of hot food since June of 2021. This onboard service will continue, and there will be little changes in the way it will be presented going forward.

Flights Over 900 Miles, Plus Flights to and From Mexico, Central America, and the Caribbean

This is where the biggest changes will come. Beginning March 1, 2022, and continuing out over that week, hot food will return to first class.

Some new entrées will be added:

Ginger beer-braised osso bucco
Wild mushroom ravioli
Chicken cacciatore
French bread pizza
Barbecue beef short ribs from Fox Bros. Bar-B-Q (on select flights departing Atlanta)

Some new desserts include:

Ricotta cheesecake
Frozen Greek yogurt with cherry syrup
Strawberry, rhubarb, and pretzel tart

You can expect an entrée, appetizer, and dessert on most flights where a meal is offered. Delta tends to serve most meals on 1 tray on normal domestic or local international routes without a Delta One product to allow for easy service and cleanup.

On all meal service flights, there was always be a full bar service in first class, so you can have your choice of beverage with unlimited refills.

Delta New Food in Premium Cabin — Delta is bringing main hot food to the first class cabin on most eligible flights. Image Credit: Delta Air Lines

Flights Under 900 Miles

For now, flights under 900 miles will contain a full drink service and packaged snacks.

These snacks include:

Biscoff cookies
Almonds
Rold Gold pretzels
USDA-certified organic bars from Kate’s Real Food (the dark chocolate cherry and almond bar is on offer at the moment)

Hot Tip: Learn how to upgrade to first class on Delta Air Lines flights in our helpful guide!

Final Thoughts

The return of hot food to premium cabins signifies the return to somewhat normal standards of flying and is an exciting improvement to premium cabin passengers and elite customers. Over time, we hope more service standards become improved and meals get even better, but it’s nice to see some meals return for now.