Airline Chef Job Description
Airline Chef Job Profile and Description
Schooled and trained as a chef and often hired from the hotel industry, the Airline Catering Chef specializes in designing the culinary menu selections for the various service classes of an airline – first class, executive or business class and coach or economy class. He is basically the COO for an airline catering department and heads a staff that oversees the large scale production and administrative requirements in preparing and processing the packaged airline meals for loading up the relevant aircraft prior to departure.
Airline Chef Duties and Responsibilities
- Design and specify the menu dishes for the client airline’s various service classes (first, premium, executive and coach)
- Oversee the selection of wines, liquors champagnes, beverages and aperitifs.
- Oversee quality control food tasting during meal production process
- Calculate volume of raw materials for each specified ingredient.
- Specify the raw ingredient in any menu item and calculate the volume requirement to support the daily production levels
- Identify from among global suppliers the most cost effective raw material sources that can satisfy volume and quality catering standards
- Implement menu variations for the different flight routes with scheduled monthly and quarterly variations.
- Meet with major raw food suppliers on a global scale as required.
Airline Chef Skills and Specifications
- Must have strong leadership, organization and managerial skills
- Must have complete and thorough culinary expertise
- Strong ability to go into multitasking and high pressure work
- Above average computer and internet literacy
- Excellent communication and interpersonal skills
Airline Chef Education and Qualifications
- A bachelor’s degree in Culinary Arts is basic
- 5-8 years as Executive chef in a large hotel or restaurant is preferred
- Having a certificate from a prestigious gourmet or culinary association like the American Culinary Federation is an advantage
Airline Chef Salary
The median annual salary of Airline Catering Chef is the highest in the catering industry at around $70,000 in 2008, depending on the airline. Obviously, the larger carriers provide the highest salaries.