Delta Shifts From Hot Meals Onboard To Panera Bread In Detroit After Listeria Outbreak

For several days, Delta Air Lines has suspended hot meals on over 200 flights out of Detroit (DTW), blaming a “food safety issue.” Aviation insider JonNYC is reporting that a listeria outbreak is to blame.

Delta Air Lines Shifts To Panera Bread, Other Alternative Meals in DTW After Suspected Listera Outbreak

On Sunday, Delta disclosed that a kitchen was “notified” of a food safety issue, prompting an immediate shutdown:

“During a recent inspection at a DTW kitchen, Delta’s catering partner was notified of a food safety issue within the facility. Delta and its catering partner immediately shut down hot food production and subsequently suspended all activity from the facility. Hot food and other onboard provisioning will be managed from other facilities.”

A memo to flight attendants blamed the issue on “an unforeseen supply chain issue.”

Yes, it is not wrong to blame the issue on a supply chain issue and food safety issue, but that is sort of like blaming the storm on the weather. While Delta has not revealed specifics, it appears a listeria outbreak is to blame.

Per JonNYC, that “issue” was a listeria outbreak, evidenced by an entire flight crew that fell sick on a Friday flight from Detroit to Amsterdam (AMS).

None of this confirmed by me, but FWIW pic.twitter.com/BT53OMLyyV

— JonNYC (@xJonNYC) October 14, 2024

There’s no list of routes impacted because Delta is implementing several stop-gap measures, including double-catering at other facilities and catering boxed meals from Panera Bread onboard. On some flights, passengers have been offered SkyMiles or airport meal vouchers in lieu of meals.

Recall that over the summer, another Delta flight from Detroit to Amsterdam was forced to divert after passengers discovered the chicken served onboard was spoiled.

> Read More: It’s Pasta Or Pasta On Delta Air Lines After Other Meals Contaminated By Mold

CONCLUSION

Delta catering out of Detroit will be irregular as a suspected listeria issue is sorted out. Expect boxed lunches from Panera Bread or simply vouchers to purchase meals inside the terminal.

When United faced a similar outbreak at its partner’s Denver catering facility, it took many months to sort it out. Hopefully, Delta will solve this problem quickly.

images: reddit // hat tip: View From The Wing