With airlines racing to shave the bottom line, galley space is being lost to seat space – which means menus of salty peanut-free snacks, Pringles potato “chips” and soggy sandwiches. It's no wonder the low-blood-sugar blues take over before most of us reach our destinations.
So imagine a traveller's delight to find a fresh, meaty Spolumbo's Italian sandwich – a Western Canada deli favourite – offered for $6 on a recent WestJet flight out of Calgary.
WestJet CEO Sean Durfy, also a frequent flyer, thought it would be “cool” to eat his favourite sandwich en route –and the company's locally sourced buy-on-board sandwich program was born. It started as a pilot project out of Calgary, and now, with a few exceptions, if you're on a WestJet flight in Canada, you'll likely be offered a fresh sandwich from a popular local purveyor. That means a healthy lentil curry wrap from Bread Garden in Vancouver, a “double beef” special featuring local Valbella meats from krave catering in Edmonton, or a big Italian-style deli-meat combo from DiRienzo Foods in Ottawa.
While Regina and Halifax passengers have to make do with traditional airline catering, there's no doubt WestJet has raised the bar. The most recent additions are Montreal's Au Pain Doré, with a classic pastrami or ham croissant, and Scarlett House Catering in Toronto, with Tuscan chicken or smoked turkey and brie.
“The idea is to get local guests to buy food they know and like,” says Tony Guerra of DiRienzo's, a small deli and grocery. “We handle five to 10 flights a day out of Ottawa, so every morning I'm up early delivering sandwiches.”
Dan Repetowski of krave uses high-end charcuterie from Canmore's Valbella Meats and even had a local bakery create a cheddar brioche bagel and sourdough breads – filled with green olives, roasted red peppers and fresh rosemary – for his airline offerings.
He's getting great feedback from flyers, with just one grumble: “We're now hearing customers complaining because they run out of sandwiches by Row 16.”
Special to The Globe and Mail
