Mom bakes sourdough bread on a flight

Maria Barradell, a mother of five, was on a trip from Dallas, Texas, to Barcelona, Spain, when she decided to bake sourdough bread mid-flight. A TikTok video captured her as she mixed, folded, and let the dough rise right there in the airplane. It’s quite a thing to see!

In a separate incident, an airline has faced criticism after a vegan passenger claimed he received what looked like a moldy sandwich. Paul Booker, a British traveler, shared photos on social media of his meal served on a Virgin Atlantic flight from Cancun to London on January 14.

The images show limp zucchini and what seemed to be charred, moldy peppers on a small baguette. Towards the end of his long flight, Booker was offered this sandwich as part of the breakfast options. After peeling away the bread, he was shocked by the contents and immediately called over a flight attendant.

“This is without a doubt the worst meal I’ve ever had,” he recounted. There was no way he could eat that food, he said. The sandwich looked, in his words, “rotten.” He even shared it with a friend, who couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculousness of it all.

The flight attendant provided him with a fruit salad instead and suggested he reach out to Virgin Atlantic for a compensation voucher. Booker found humor in the situation due to a quirky quote on the box that read, “We found love in a place of hunger,” calling it ironic, as he felt quite the opposite—starving.

He spent around $820 on his flights but deemed the airline’s offer of a £100 voucher (approximately $136) to be insufficient compensation. “It wouldn’t even make a dent for them,” he remarked, illustrating the mismatch between what he felt was an unacceptable meal and the airline’s response.

The flight attendant appeared “really confused” by the whole scenario. Virgin Atlantic later expressed disappointment at Booker’s experience, emphasizing that they strive to meet high standards for all dietary needs. “All customers should receive food that meets our usual high standards,” a spokesperson mentioned.

This incident adds to ongoing concerns about in-flight food quality, highlighting how many passengers remain dissatisfied with their meal options while flying.

On a related note, American Airlines has recently announced it will introduce a 1920s-themed in-flight menu for a limited time on select first and business class routes, including premium dishes such as beef Wellington and caviar.