Qantas puts vegetarian meals options back on the menu for domestic flights following backlash

After Australia's national carrier copped criticism for moving away from always having a vegetarian meal option on its flights, it now says the meals are back on the menu.

Vegetarians will be better catered for on Qantas flights after the airline brings back more meal options on its domestic flights. Source: AAP / Bianca de Marchi

Key Points

• The national carrier was providing fewer food options, which at times meant there was not a vegetarian meal offering.
• Qantas says it's heard the message loud and clear about having vegetarian offerings on all flights.

Qantas appears to have backflipped on a decision not to provide vegetarian meals on many of its domestic routes following backlash on social media.

The national carrier’s decision to provide fewer food options, which at times meant there was not a vegetarian meal offering, became a topic of conversation online last week.

At the time, Qantas said the carrier had made some changes to its onboard food and service offerings during the COVID-19 pandemic.

A spokesperson said on shorter flights, Qantas provided a single meal/snack option per flight and that this was in order to "simplify service delivery for crew members".

They said this sometimes meant vegetarians may be offered a small vegetarian snack, rather than a meal.

On Friday morning, just days after Australian news outlets and travel publications highlighted the menu change, Qantas put out a media release stating it would be increasing its vegetarian meal and snack options on all domestic flights.

“We’ve heard the message loud and clear about having vegetarian offerings on all of our flights and so we’re making that change as a priority,” Qantas Executive Manager of Product and Service, Phil Capps, said.

“We had to make a lot of alterations to our service during COVID and we’re still in the process of bringing things back and updating others,” he said.

“There’s a lot of work happening to get Qantas back to its best.”

The reinstatement of vegetarian meals on the carrier's flights has been welcomed on social media.

Broadcaster and founder of Planet Ark, John Dee, whose September 18 tweet about there being no vegetarian meal available on his flight between Adelaide and Sydney had gained a lot of attention, tweeted on Friday that Qantas had done the right thing by bringing back vegetarian options.

The move to address food offerings follows a period that has seen Qantas’ reputation for customer service take a dive.

Frustrated passengers have experienced delayed and cancelled flights, long queues at airports and lost baggage when flying with the carrier in recent months.