International Corporate Catering Guide

One of the more challenging aspects of being a flighthours of operation, e-mail address, phone and fax
attendant is providing in-flight service excellence tonumbers, and an
your customers. When operating out of familiar"other" number which I assume is a backup or cellular
territory selecting a highly regardedcaterer is usuallyphone number. Typically, for many of the far flung
not a problem. However, can that high level ofplaces the guide lists a flight planner such as Universal
service be found in Boise as well as in Beijing? And, ifWeather & Aviation or Air Routing International
so, where can this information be found?as the contact for that city. According to the guide,
According to, "THE INTERNATIONAL DIRECTORYthese two companies will recommend a caterer at
OF CORPORATE AVIATION CATERING SERVICES,"the destination and can provide a local representative
you certainly can find a caterer in Boise, Beijing, andto bridgeany language barriers.
hundreds of other locations worldwide. First publishedThe guide also offers a "Helpful Reminders" section
in 2001, the directory is a one-of-a-kind bookfor the flight attendant under the heading, "Advance
chockfull of caterers from around the globe. ThePlanning When Traveling Outside the United States."
400+ page, 6" x 9" directory is organized byIncluded are tips on contacting the caterer ahead of
continent, country, and airport code.time, what to do [as mentioned above] when no local
Each section begins with a city/airport code crosscaterer is listed, keeping appropriatecontainers
reference table for that region to enable you to findonboard your aircraft in the event that the caterer
the airports that each caterer serves. Those cateringdoes not have the correct sized packaging to fit in
organizations with multiple airport locations haveyour microwave, and more.
separate listings in each airport. Thisparticular featureThe guide will be updated on a regular basis and is
is wonderful as the referencer need not flipcurrentlyavailable in paperback and eventually also will
throughout the book in an attempt to find andbe available on CDROM.
compare caterers.Many of the catering recommendations were
As far as particular caterers in more remotereceived by knowledgeable corporate flight
locations, the directory lists A Catered Affair as theattendants directly. As such, some of the addresses
lone caterer for Boise, but has four sources foror phone numbers may have changed, while some of
Beijing. For example, Beijing Air Catering Co LTDthe businesses may have closed altogether. Always
serves Capital International Airport. The guidegivescheck in advance to see if the caterer is still available.
this particular caterer's address, a contact name,