Delta Air Lines will add Shake Shack burgers to its first class menu, offering its premium passengers comfort food at 35,000 feet.
Delta Air Lines Partners With Shake Shack To “Upgrade” First Class Menu
While the debate over whether In-N-Out, Five Guys, or Shake Shake offers the best burgers may be forever inconclusive, I know I speak for many in saying that we do love Shake Shake…no question about it.
So the choice of Delta to offer this comfort in first class is excellent news, as far as I am concerned, and I suspect most passengers will be happy to at least have this additional choice.
Here are the particulars:
- The partnership will begin on flights out of Boston (BOS) on December 1, 2024
- Then in 2025, the partnership will expand to “other US markets”
- Passengers seated in First Class on routes over 900 miles will be able to pre-select a Shake Shack Cheeseburger as their meal option (orders must be placed at least 24 hours prior to departure, so last-minute upgrades will not be eligible)
- The Shake Shack Cheeseburger features a 100% Angus beef patty, topped with cheese and served on a toasted potato bun
- You can customize your burger with ShackBurger tomatoes, lettuce, and Shake Shack’s ShackSauce, all served on the side
- The meal also features chips, a Caesar salad, and a dark chocolate brownie reminiscent of “Shack Attack” flavors from some of the brand’s dessert offerings
Now I’m expecting In-N-Out burgers next year, United! 😉
Should We Be Pushing Fast Food On Airplanes?
I don’t want to get political here…I wish it was a unifying issue…but I wonder (and I have to stop and ask myself every time I eat an airline burger too) that with the obesity epidemic spiraling out of control in the USA if we should be encouraging people to eat foods that will certainly have to be highly processed in order to maintain their freshness with Delta. Are we ever going to come together as a nation to realize that obesity is an existential crisis that threatens our healthcare system and even our national security?
On the other hand, if burgers are like alcohol and make people happy and quiet, maybe it’s worth the downside…and maybe I should start first by eliminating those burgers from my diet, even though I do not have a weight problem (at least not yet).
CONCLUSION
Delta Air Lines will add Shake Shack burgers on first class flights out of Boston starting next month and later expand to more US markets. I think most folks love Shake Shake so I’ll just leave it at that…nad hope I have the willpower to order a salad instead…
Who am I kidding?
images: Delta
Meanwhile, Delta will announce today a “basic business” and “basic domestic first” product.
The Shake Shack Shake or Malt is also good . I say include the Shake Shack Shake .
Hey guys, I told you before that I wanted something like this – fast food is better than domestic airline food. Now, I expected something like the Lord’s Chicken, being from GA and all, but Shake Shack is just fine.
And Matthew, didn’t you photograph a few times already the ingredients list on your UA burger? Shit’s loaded with preservatives! Wondering why the diatribe on this one.
Georgia flights require the Waffle House waffles-and-fried-chicken , with french fries , and beer .
No peach pie on the side?
@Moe … An entire Georgia peach pie on the side . Robert Kennedy fainted when he saw the big tummies in Georgia .
@Jan: I highlighted how nasty it was that UA’s BOB food is so full of preservatives…
I’m less worried about the particular food being more fat or carb loaded than I am it being heavily processed with 4000 ingredients and preservatives and loaded with sugar. There is nothing wrong with a burger that is fresh meat, on a bun without sugar and chemicals, and with fresh vegetables. We need to stop the all encompassing stigma on things like a cheeseburger. Start the stigma on processed foods instead.
Fair enough.
+100
Well said!
Shake Shack is the only burger place my kids will go if not eating burgers at home. We don’t have In-N-Out here and you cannot ay me enough to go eat at Five Guys. As for serving burgers on airplanes, that is another story. I could not agree more with you that our food system is absolutely broken (remember I work with food companies) and it disgusts me to see all ingredients that are banned in Europe being vastly used here in the US and people feed their kids on those.
@Santastico …
Bobby Kennedy merely ate one bite from the BigMac which Trump gave him , and Bobby immediately gained 10 pounds and increased his cholesterol count to “high” .
Bobby then went to Europe and ate a family lunch in Italy , with wine , and immediately lost 20 pounds and his cholesterol count went down to “deficient” .
@Alert: This is just one example of bad food that is still bad in Europe but disgustingly horrible in the US.
@Matthew may know this well since they are from Germany. Haribo Gummy Bears
German: Glucose syrup; sugar; gelatin; dextrose; fruit juice from concentrate: apple, strawberry, raspberry, orange, lemon, pineapple; citric acid, lemon, pineapple; citric acid; fruit and plant concentrates: nettle, apple, spinach, kiwi, orange, elderberry, lemon, mango, passionfruit, blackcurrant, aronia, grape; flavorings; glazing agents: white and yellow beeswax; carnauba wax; elderberry extract; fruit extract from carob; invert sugar syrup
American: Corn syrup, sugar, gelatin, dextrose, citric acid, starch, artificial and natural flavors, fractionated coconut oil, carnauba wax, beeswax coating, artificial colors: yellow 5, red 40, blue 1
Now, pay attention to the following that we allow our kids to eat in the US:
Yellow 5: Tartrazine: Trisodium (4E)-5-oxo-1-(4-sulfonatophenyl)-4-[(4-sulfonatophenyl)hydrazono]-3-pyrazolecarboxylate
Red 40: Allura Red AC: disodium 6-hydroxy-5-((2-methoxy-5-methyl-4-sulfophenyl)azo)-2-naphthalenesulfonate
Blue 1: Brilliant blue FCF: disodium;2-[[4-[ethyl-[(3-sulfonatophenyl)methyl]amino]phenyl]-[4-[ethyl-[(3-sulfonatophenyl)methyl]azaniumylidene]cyclohexa-2,5-dien-1-ylidene]methyl]benzenesulfonate
In terms of macros and calories, a cheeseburger (without fries) is not the worst thing an airline can serve health-wise. According to Shake Shack’s website, the burger appears to be the single cheeseburger, which is 440 calories, or under 25% of most American’s daily calorie needs. It also should have a good amount of protein (though zero fiber).
You can also make good, healthy cheeseburgers (or hamburgers) at home. Use 90/10 grass fed beef, put the burger on some kind of bread with whole wheat/fiber, refrain from using cheese (or use something relatively low calorie like Swiss, gruyere, fresh mozzarella), add lettuce, tomato and raw onion, etc, forgoe fillers like fries, soda and beer, etc.
A single Shake Shack burger has 53% of the sodium daily required. As everyone has pointed out, the best burgers are those made at home and not sitting around for hours. The inclusion of cheese just hides a multitude of sins.
Again, another stigma that puzzles me. Cheese. I fail to understand why cheese is such an issue beyond those who have tolerance issues. Fresh cheese, not processed, when in moderation, is perfectly fine and has been consumed in healthy cultures around the world for eons.
@Antwerp: The problem is not the cheese but the cheese used on cheeseburgers. They are processed cheese.
For example, real Parmigiano Reggiano cheese (not fake parmesan cheese sold in the US) is one of the healthiest cheese one can eat. It is lactose-free, high in protein, and has probiotic benefits. Only 100 grams of this cheese contain 40grams of protein and are digested on average in 45 minutes. One would need to eat more than double that amount in meat or fish to get the same amount of protein and need 4 hours to digest it.
That’s basically what I said, lol. But, again, people will just translate it to cheese entirely. This is how Americans play food bingo. Someone decides Cheese is bad and everyone stops eating it. Until someone says it’s not bad and they all start again. In neither circumstance is anyone identifying that there is no “general” cheese. There are good cheeses and bad cheeses. No one though trains consumers to understand the difference. Just like there are good cheeseburgers and bad cheeseburgers.
There are not any “good cheeseburgers” , except those without cheese . A hamburger is meant to be a hamburger .
There are not any good hot dogs , except a “Chicago Hot Dog” .
I can eat cheese, but it does not enhance everything and covers the graying meat in a greasy tub waiting to be served. It won’t be the nice freshly served burger ( and I make mine rare-ish) But it home I control where my cattle live, how they are fed, butchered and ground. Preferably they might have started this change with a lovely open face au jus cheese steak which could hold for hours. Just my thought.
@ alert good idea about premium hot dogs. The butcher that process my beef has the best and are only sold at Ravens games and one other team. They are crazy delicious, what a great idea to serve these nationally recognized dogs with terrific optional side toppings. I love that.
While I have issues with the multitude of preservatives/chemicals in processed food as well (a topic for another day perhaps), my issue here isn’t so much with that. One processed meal isn’t going to break the bank after all. It’s the challenge of actually making a burger taste decent when reheated in one of those convection ovens. I find all too often that either the bun gets soggy, the bun gets burned, or the patty itself takes on a burned flavor because of incorrect temperatures used. Nevertheless, I’ll gave DL props for creativity with the partnership and yes, I’ll try it if I find myself in DL F.
BTW, not sure if they’ll offer this on TPE-SGN, but CI had a “Wagyu beef” cheeseburger as a midflight snack when I was flying TPE-AMS the other day that was…really, really good. Highly recommended if it’s an option for you.
I’m curious to compare how processed these burgers are compared to the ones you get in First and Business Class on airlines like ANA, Lufthansa, Cathay, etc.
The least healthy burger, paired with the least healthy side, served with the least healthy salad. What a mess! Not for me, but I hope others enjoy it.
I try diligently to eat healthy. I have discovered over the years I obsess over it a bit too much. Since I’m flying only 6 days a year, I now just eat whatever I want on those days. It is quite freeing and reduces the many unpleasant features of modern travel. The overall effect on my health is insignificant.