With most of the major U.S. airlines planning to cut the majority of their in-flight meals, the list of workers directly affected by the post-September 11 crisis in the airline industry may soon expand to cover employees of airline catering companies. The two major firms in the airline catering industry, LSG Sky Chefs and Gate Gourmet, have admitted that they may have to close down their U.S. operations due to debt overhead if airlines go through with their intended cuts. Confronted with the impending loss of 45,000 union jobs, the Hotel Employees and Restaurant Employees union and the Teamsters---who represent 40,000 and 8,000 airline catering workers, respectively---have joined forces with AFL-CIO president John Sweeney, in attempting to dissuade U.S. airlines from making the cuts.
See "45,000 Airline Catering Jobs Are at Risk, Unions Say", FRANK SWOBODA, The Washington Post, October 18, 2001