Crew meals - an employer obligation to staff and customers.
Should crews who are rostered for duty over “usual” meal periods be provided with a crew meal, by their employer?
I believe so, for the following reasons:-
SAFETY. Any responsible employer who claims ignorance of the effects on the body’s sugar levels during periods of abstinence from nourishment, is either naive or untruthful.
Sugar levels drop, concentration lapses, tiredness follows, and consequently errors are made and may go unnoticed.
Crews on duty NEED sustenance, to maintain a level of alertness commensurate with the responsibilities entrusted to them.
SAFETY. Employers of other workers recognize the need for their ground-based employees to have set meal breaks during recognized meal times – breakfast, lunch and dinner – and to allow those employees time off work to go to the subsidized staff canteen, or nearby convenience shop, food shop, or restaurant.
Crew on duty quite simply do not have this necessary luxury (of leaving their workplace to eat) afforded them, due to flight schedules – unless employees are willing to roster crews off, over these periods.
Why is it considered acceptable to recognize the nutritional needs of ground-based employees, but to ignore those of crews on duty?
SAFETY. Food prepared at home, or purchased from a “grab & run” fast food shop, may not always be prepared strictly in accordance with ideal food hygiene standards, nor wrapped/packed and stored in the optimum medium for keeping it bacteria free prior to consumption, in situations where employees must take their own food to work, thus risking food poisoning whilst on duty.
Food prepared at home, but forgotten and left behind, insufficient time to prepare food for eating whilst on duty, or lack of funds, may mean the crew member goes without nourishment during his/her entire duty period – or shares the SAME food as another employee.
I believe, that in the interests of SAFETY of employees and customers, employers of flight crews on duty are responsible for ensuring that crews on duty are provided with safe meals.