What really goes into your in-flight meal? Behind the scenes at an airline-food kitchen

I have always thought that people who say they enjoy airline food have a shockingly low threshold for what is considered edible. Lukewarm, bland and bereft of aesthetic appeal, it’s an “avoid at all costs” culinary experience in my book.

So it is to my surprise that I find myself on the way to Hounslow, on the western outskirts of London, to visit Do & Co, the catering company that prepares and cooks meals for airlines including Qatar Airways, British Airways and JetBlue, the low-cost carrier that this year launched flights from London to Boston.