Virgin cabin crew take sick leave over 2-minute noodles

Cost cutting at Virgin Australia has been blamed for meal offerings in business class being reduced to 2-minute noodles.

Virgin Australia is under fire from business class passengers who were disappointed with their meal offering after paying $2500 for an airfare. Picture: Facebook.

Virgin Australia passengers paying as much as $2500 to fly in business class, are being served two-minute noodles by embarrassed cabin crew ordered to restrict “complimentary snacks”.

Frequent flyers have posted images of the meal on social media, in the latest blow to the airline which is hoping to emerge from administration at the end of the month.

Administrators were appointed to Virgin Australia in April, after the airline failed to attract federal government funding to keep it flying during the COVID-19 crisis.

With debts of $6.8bn, administrators were forced to take out a loan to pay employees before signing a deal with US private equity firm Bain Capital to buy the carrier.

The deal is due to be finalised within weeks heralding a fresh start for the airline which has not made a profit in eight years.

In a stark illustration of ongoing financial troubles, cabin crew leaked a directive from management about dwindling food supplies.

“There is a limited amount of complimentary snacks in the supply chain. Without controls in place the snacks will be exhausted in coming weeks,” said the directive dated October 8, 2020.

“To maintain our current on-board offering and ensure stock of complimentary snacks does not exhaust prematurely the following guidelines apply to all flights effectively immediately.”

The directive went on to say business class passengers would be allowed one snack each, and economy passengers would be given a snack only if they wanted one.

Two weeks earlier cabin crew were informed all wine stock had been depleted and would no longer be loaded on flights, and Coke No Sugar and Diet Coke were also unavailable.

A Virgin Australia source said the situation had become so dire, cabin crew managers were “booking off sick in droves” to avoid dealing with premium passengers frustrated by the limited offerings.

“Neither (CEO) Paul Scurrah nor Bain have indicated how this situation is going to play out,” said the source.

A Virgin Australia spokeswoman confirmed the meal offerings remained restricted across the cabins to limit interaction between crew and passengers in the current pandemic.

That was expected to change in coming weeks to a more substantial meal for premium passengers, with a wider choice of beverages.

It’s understood cabin crew were informed late Monday that delivery chain issues were to blame for the current restrictions, and work was underway to establish new catering contracts.

Qantas reverted to a meal service in its premium cabins last month and a snack and beverage service in economy, in response to the increasing number of domestic flights and travellers.

Business class meals were served with “warm bakery and beverages” and included offerings such as lamb shank with minted onion sauce and potato mash, and chicken parmigiana with sweet potato puree and greens.

This is the current Qantas meal service for business class passengers. Picture: Facebook

The switch had led to comparisons on frequent flyer sites, with members sharing their experiences.

“The snack we got in economy (on Qantas) was better than Virgin Australia’s offering in J (business) last week,” said a member of Facebook group Frequent Flyers Australia.

After losing months of revenue to harsh COVID-related travel restrictions, airlines have been keeping a very tight rein on costs.

Qantas has reduced its weekly cash burn to $40m, while Virgin Australia is in the process of renegotiating work agreements with remaining employees.

As a result, cabin crew face a reduction in base salary from $61,000 to $49,000 and the loss of their $120 overnight allowance.

Pilots were also seeing their salaries slashed by 30 to 40 per cent to help the airline return to profitability.