Here is why Singapore Airlines Food and Crew rock!

On my recent visit to Singapore I visited Singapore Airport Terminal Services and SIA Training Center (STC) - the two places which make the flying experience with Singapore Airlines so impeccable. Read on to learn about how these two centers make the airlines work. I also have some pictures from this highly restricted area to go with this unique experience :)

Air shower to clean you up before you enter the facility!

Have you ever wondered about the person behind the smiling faces who welcome you as you enter an aircraft? Or ever thought about the logistics of the food that you order in an airline, especially when you fly internationally? Or wait, have you ever wondered how are the pilots, who fly these giants flawlessly, actually get trained?

Well, I am actually the curious soul and have always been so interested in the stories of people who make the airline experience a pleasant one, sometimes at an altitude of 40,000 ft. But my communication with airlines has been fairly limited and even less so with the crew that makes it work. However, on my recent trip to Singapore with Singapore Airlines, I got a sneak peek into not just how the food is made ready and served hot on our seats, but also about what goes behind making a perfect stewardess or steward for the airlines.

My first experience with A380

I must mention that though I travel quite a bit, I still have a child-like fascination when it comes to getting into an aircraft to start my journey. However, this trip was my first time in Airbus A380, and I swear I didn’t realise when the aircraft took off. I mean I was sitting and reading a book, and suddenly when I looked down I could just see miniature buildings! It felt great but also extremely odd at the same time :)

Singapore Airport Terminal Services (SATS)

I come from a background in Mechanical Engineering and Product Design, and get very excited every time I see effective and seamless operations involving humans and machines. An impressive example of this is the SATS (Singapore Airport Terminal Services) facility which caters to Singapore Airlines in the city.

At the entrance of SATS

But what is Singapore Airport Terminal Services or SATS as it is commonly known? What does it do? Is it connected in any way to my airline experience?

Well, it’s more closely related to most other obvious things that you can imagine. It defines the your one very personal experience, especially when flying long distance - dining. However, the journey of the food on you place starts much earlier than you get it on your seat. Actually, it starts even before you make an airline reservation or book your food.

Food getting cooked

Outside the Japanese Kitchen

A large organisation like this works by using historical food consumption data as well as predictive models to decide which food to plan for each sector and flight. For instance, a Hindu meal on a flight from Singapore to Ahmedabad might be more popular than all others, so purchase of the raw material starts much in advance. The actual cooking is done based on the requests for food type. However, a majority of flyers do no specify their food preference so a lot of work goes into planning for meals which can actually meet their needs at the last minute - these are the more standard vegetarian and non-vegetarian meals. So here is an obvious tip -  if you want the meal of your choice, order in advance!

When it comes to food, you also need very high standards for hygiene and consistency in food quality. To achieve hygiene, SATS is a zone where only authorized works and guests are allowed access - I was the privileged guest, of course :)

The man-machine interaction is quite visible. Very impressive to see machines pouring the egg-mix for omelets into pans and robots ferrying food between different stations. However, the cooking is still done by humans - be assured no machine cooks the food that you eat in the flight! From cooking to garnishing to packing, most food handling is done by humans - I was very happy seeing this :)

Conveyer belts which carry forward the food

Food getting garnished before final packing 

There are kitchens for Indian, Muslim, Oriental and other meals, but the most interesting one was for Japanese meals. The passionate chef actually works just by himself without even stepping out of the kitchen and ensures highest standards of food there.

Food at 30,000 ft tastes different! 

However, the most interesting bit to me was about the change in perceived taste when you fly at 30,000 ft. This also partially explains why airline food never tastes as good as its counterpart in a restaurant on land - basically it cannot because our perception of taste changes when in air, so the same orange would not taste the same in air. To compensate for this, the cooks who design food for airlines actually design it for taste in the air. The most interesting (though restricted) part of SATS to me was the ‘Simulated Aircraft Cabin’ where conditions identical to an actual aircraft are simulated so that cooks can try out the food to know how they would taste in the air. Its mainly used while designing new foods, but also when there are consistent customer complaints for a certain food.

SIA Training Center (STC)

After learning all about the journey of food from a shop to our plates high in the air, it was time to learn more about the people who make it happen - especially the ones who handle the last journey of food from the trolleys to our seats. In case you are mistaken, they are not just there to get you food and beverages, but also to ensure your safety when you fly. All aircraft steward and stewardess are trained in safety drill and in case of an emergency, they are the ones who save our lives :)

I sort of knew about it, but was never quite exposed to the details of the training drills. These drills include different types of evacuation procedures, including water landing, fire and so on. While we took a round, we saw one trainings session on landing an aircraft in water. I must confess, it was very real.

These life-size cabins are used for training 

Inside the grooming room

This center especially takes care of that. With life size mock-up models of different aircrafts and different classes, the students are trained to be the best in the class. This requires multiple things - how to speak, walk, serve and also advanced skills on grooming. I attended one such workshop and was rather surprised with the hard work that goes into making an air-hostess. There were also a couple of guys, though for them the grooming sessions are less of stress.

The most interesting bit here was the ‘Flight Simulator’ section where pilots are also trained into take-off and landings and various other problems that an air-craft can face while in air on on ground. We got to try our hand as well, but before long the real pilots were ready to take our places. However, to me those ten minutes were super fun!

Flight Stimulator! 

The day ended with lots of education and knowledge, but I think to me the tours in the day gave me much empathy about the hard work that makes an airline experience work. I know the next time I am disappointed with with my flying experience, I can probably just blame the logistical failures and return the smile that the air stewards and stewardess flash at you :)