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Click here to read how Gate Gourmet workers in Hawaii stood together to improve Health & Safety issues in their workplace in English or Spanish.

Click here to read how JFK Sky Chefs workers stood together to fight working off the clock in English, Spanish, Chinese, Vietnamese, or Hmong.

The State of the U.S. Airline Catering Industry
The health of the U.S. in-flight catering industry is tied to the health of the U.S. airline industry. We’ve taken drastic cuts resulting from the terrible state of the airline industry. The Los Angeles Times highlighted the troubling story earlier this year:

• Spending on food by major U.S. airlines is down 30% since the end of 1999.
• Worldwide employment at LSG Sky Chefs has dropped 29% since 2001.
• Gate Gourmet has closed nearly a third of its U.S. kitchens since 2000.
• Nobody predicts free meals will ever return to American air travel. 
• Northwest and Delta are in bankruptcy.
• Low cost airlines like Southwest have flourished by only offering snacks on all flights.

Source: Peltz, James. “Decline of the In-flight Meal Leaves Airline Caterers Hungry.” Los Angeles Times. January 2, 2006.

Airline Profits Continue to Fall
The International Air Transport Association (IATA), an airline industry trade association, now estimates global airline losses this year to be $3 billion, up from its previous estimate of $2.2 billion. Citing increasing fuel costs and too many empty seats, a leading investor proclaimed that 2006 would be "as good as it gets" for the airline industry. Low-cost carriers, whose sales do not
diminish as fuel costs go up, will likely continue to profit at a higher rate.

Source: The Times online