A passenger traveling in a Singapore Airlines first class suite from Singapore to Auckland on January 1st was in for a surprise as he dug into his meal. When he took a sip of his pumpkin and mushroom soup, he felt a sharp item in his mouth. He later found out that there was a foreign object in his food in the form of a metal screw.
Surprise addition
Sam Chui reports that when staff became aware of the unexpected object, a voucher of SGD $200 ($144) was instantly offered to the passenger. However, the flier's appetite was fully put off and he wasn't satisfied with the compensation handed out.
The customer, named Will, shared a review of the flight on QQ. The experience seemed to be extremely pleasant up until this incident. He shared that he sent a letter to Singapore Airlines to share his concern about the screw.
Will said that the firm replied after 12 days of investigation. It concluded that the missing screw came from one of its kitchen blenders and got mixed up into the soup bowl. The item then passed a metal detector and was delivered onto the aircraft before being warmed up in a microwave and served on a tray.
Action taken
The reply confirmed that all food catering employees have been briefed on the events. Additionally, they have been reminded to check the equipment before and after daily operations.
Furthermore, the airline's technical staff has been asked to look into other blender models that don't have exposed screws. The company hopes that this will reduce contact with the inflight cuisine.
Altogether, the piece of metal is being referred to as a "Tapered Countersink Screw" that belonged to the airline's catering partner SATS.
Could have been worse
The carrier did not mention any other form of compensation to Will in the letter. Therefore, he assumes that he won't receive any further communication regarding the screw.
Nonetheless, Will is lucky not to have swallowed on the piece of metal. Thankfully, he noticed the item before the situation could have become critical. $144 seems like a small offering considering the serious implications that the screw could have caused.
Singapore Airlines has shared that it is putting extra measures in place to ensure something like this won't happen again. However, the passenger may be feeling that more could have been done to settle down his initial worries.
Simple Flying reached out to Singapore Airlines for comment on the events but did not hear back before publication. We will update the article with any further comments.
What are your thoughts on how the incident was responded to by the airline? Let us know what you think of the situation in the comment section.