Buying Ultra-Cheap Airline Food Is The Latest Way To Help Save The Planet

Last month we covered an intriguing company called Too Good to Go, which aims to combat food waste by partnering with restaurants to sell their unused food at one-third the original price. You don't get to choose your meal and you won't know what they're handing off to you until you receive it, but you can take your pick from local restaurants, bakeries, and stores. Now, travel news site One Mile at a Time reports that SWISS (aka Swiss International Air Lines) is teaming up with Too Good to Go to get rid of excess in-flight food.

I'm not going to kid myself or any of you: it's probably not going to be top-of-the-line stuff, since airplane offerings are usually pre-packaged sandwiches and snacks. But come on—it's not like you can bring the magic of mediocre airline food home with you every day.

This pilot program (get it?!) applies to short-haul flights that offer in-flight menus. While SWISS does its best to project how much food will be sold onboard during flights to avoid waste, there are inevitably times where food just doesn't sell. With that in mind, this type of program is ideal to combat waste.

It works like this: at the end of the flight, an announcement is made letting passengers know that there's extra food available for purchase. Interested passengers can buy bags with one to three items at a third of the cost, but they won't know what they're getting. Tests started in August and will run through September, but so far the airline says the results have been promising.

One Flight at a Time does bring up a good point, however: As great as the deal is, people with dietary restrictions might get hosed if there's something in the package they can't eat. Although, since it's a mystery package, you're already rolling the dice, so I'm assuming you'd know that's a risk you're taking. But hey, if you forgot to bring home a souvenir, maybe you can take home a sandwich.