Qantas has scaled back vegetarian options from the menu on some domestic flights, angering customers with dietary requirements.
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Environmentalist Jon Dee put blasted the airline after boarding a Qantas flight from Adelaide to Sydney, where the only menu options were "chicken pie or chicken pie".
"I was shocked - I've been vegetarian for 40 years. I would have expected this back in the '80s," Mr Dee, who has been flying with the airline for decades, said.
"We're in 2022, not 1972," he said.
The "one-size fits all" menu applies to Qantas domestic flights under three and a half hours, a Qantas spokesperson said. The airline had made changes to the menu during the COVID-19 pandemic, "to simplify the service delivery".
"We now offer a single meal/snack option per flight on our shorter flights, such as a chicken pie or a zucchini and onion frittata," the Qantas spokesperson said.
"If the option on a particular flight is not suitable for vegetarians, we try to offer an alternative of a small sweet or savoury snack which is vegetarian."
On longer domestic and international flights, customers can still pre-book meals to cater to dietary requirements.
The reduction of the menu to a "one-size fits all" meal not only impacted vegetarians, but also affected people with other dietary requirements for religious and health reasons, Mr Dee said.
"It's not just vegetarian options - they've also pulled the plug on health options, kosher, halal..." he said.
Mr Dee spoke to the flight attendant about the menu, who said they had received many complaints from passengers, and Mr Dee said his tweets about the limited menu garnered a "huge reaction".
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He said the move was "typical" of Qantas at the moment after the airline was the target of complaints over lost luggage, cancelled flights and mismanagement.
"Things that they used to get right, like luggage... it's not guaranteed anymore," Mr Dee said.
"Not even Ryanair would try this on, and they're the cheapest of the cheap."
Mr Dee, who has "always been proud to fly Qantas", said the move represented a significant decline in customer service.
Jetstar and Virgin still offer vegetarian meals on flights.