American Airlines opens doors to massive catering facility
The kitchen at DFW catered over 800 daily flights from DFW to more than 240 destinations in 23 different countries this past summer
American Airlines has opened a US$100 million catering facility to serve its hub at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport (DFW). At 214,000-square-feet, the building is the largest airline catering kitchen in the USA and is more than three times the size of a football field.
“From the moment a customer steps into one of our airport lobbies to when they are relaxing with a refreshment at 35,000 feet, we're always thinking of ways to make their journey even better,” said Brady Byrnes, Senior Vice President of Inflight and Premium Guest Services at American, in a recent article posted on American Airlines’ website. “This kitchen is an example of the investments we're making to enhance our operations while focusing on delivering a consistent customer experience and service that sets us apart.”
During peak travel season, American's DFW catering facility, which is served by LSG SkyChefs prepares nearly 15,000 fresh meals a day at the airline's largest hub.
American designed its new kitchen from the ground up with technology to help catering teams focus on quality, freshness and speed. Since opening before the start of this summer, the new kitchen has helped to minimize catering delays at DFW, improving the hub's operation which in turn improves the airline's operation.
Features include an automatic storage and retrieval system that carries dishes, plates and other items around the building on conveyor belts to reduce the time catering teams spend waiting for them.
A robotic machine loads soft drinks into the drawers inserted into beverage carts. This not only saves time, but ensures the correct beverages are loaded on to each flight. The facility handles close to 200,000 beverage cans a day.
Advanced washing systems sanitize cutlery, glasses and beverage carts so they can be prepared for another use.
American's new catering facility was built with sustainability in mind. The kitchen will soon participate in a unique program that turns organic food waste into compost. As trays and dishes are cleaned, organic food waste is collected by a vendor and distributed to farms and compost facilities. The airline has long recycled cans, paper, bottles and other trash removed from aircraft.
The airline is also deploying a new fleet of more than 100 catering trucks to support its hub operation.
