Airline-Catering Network Recovery Leader

The mandate

An airline imposed formal service sanctions after allergen segregation failed in one kitchen and repeated late carts contributed to departure delays at two hubs. The regional operations chief exited when evidence showed planners had overridden production freezes without a common risk authority. Each kitchen reports meals delivered, waste and lateness differently, and account teams protect local airline promises. The interim assumes executive network authority while food-safety and aviation professionals retain independent stop rights.

The appointment starts within two weeks and runs nine months through the summer schedule, two airline audits and recruitment of a permanent regional leader. The first twenty-one days secure high-risk production, reconcile flight-level demand and stop unauthorised plan changes. Months two through six rebuild planning, kitchen flow, equipment, dispatch and account interfaces; the final quarter proves control through schedule disruption, audit sampling and successor-led daily operations across all four kitchens.

Handover is complete when the permanent leader has run six weekly network reviews, both airline audits close without a major repeat finding, and every flight order has traceable menu, allergen, batch, equipment, vehicle and departure evidence. The successor must inherit kitchen capacity models, validated freeze rules, supplier and equipment risks, customer cure commitments, incident-learning actions and a ninety-day plan that local general managers own without extraordinary group supervision.

The interim may set executable production plans, stop a line or dispatch, move volume among approved kitchens, reset shifts, replace temporary suppliers within budget and enforce common operating definitions. Removing a kitchen general manager, settling customer remedies, changing collective terms, terminating strategic supply, closing a production unit or committing more than EUR3 million requires chief-executive and committee approval. Qualified food-safety leaders decide release; airline and airport authorities retain their statutory powers.

Menu strategy, airline pricing, new-country entry, kitchen construction and enterprise-system replacement are excluded. The interim will not relabel late carts, trade allergen segregation for departure performance, pressure quality teams to release food or count overtime as permanent capacity. Work is restricted to safe, reliable execution across the existing network and a durable transfer; the independent incident investigation and any legal conclusions remain outside operational command.

Why this seat is open

A safety failure and subsequent evidence of planning overrides removed executive confidence shortly before peak airline schedules. Customer sanctions require visible control before a conventional search can finish. The group needs an aviation-catering operator who can arbitrate safety, capacity and punctuality in real time, repair airline trust through flight-level evidence and leave a successor with stable kitchen authority.

What you will own

• Reconcile menu, forecast, passenger, batch, allergen, equipment, dispatch and flight events into one readiness baseline.
• Decide executable production allocation and freeze rules across kitchens without overriding food-safety release authority.
• Reset daily kitchen flow, labour, equipment, vehicle and bonded-store control around flight departure critical paths.
• Establish one change-authority route for late passenger, aircraft, menu, special-meal and disruption demand.
• Close airline cure commitments through sampled flight evidence, named owners and transparent repeat-failure reporting.
• Exercise equipment loss, supplier failure, allergen hold, aircraft swap and weather disruption before peak schedule.
• Induct the permanent leader through six network reviews and transfer risks, sanctions, playbooks and supplier decisions.

Candidate qualifications

• Has held executive authority across multi-site airline catering, high-volume food production or comparable time-critical regulated service.
• Can evidence simultaneous restoration of food control and departure service under customer sanction or audit pressure.
• Understands menu and passenger demand, special meals, allergen segregation, batch traceability, equipment and airside dispatch.
• Has aligned airline account promises with finite kitchen capacity and independent product-release decisions.
• Can expose plan overrides and data gaming at flight level without creating a blame-led safety culture.
• Has completed an interim handover after proving performance through operational audits and peak schedules.

Non-negotiables

• Can start onsite in Istanbul within two weeks and rotate weekly among all four flight kitchens.
• Will respect quality, food-safety, aviation and airport stop authority under every departure constraint.
• Brings direct time-critical production accountability; airline commercial or restaurant leadership alone is insufficient.
• Will report late, substituted, held and unsafe output separately rather than optimise aggregate meals delivered.

1. 49 words maximum. Which flight-catering measure concealed the greatest food or departure risk in an operation you recovered?
2. 49 words maximum. Confirm your earliest Istanbul start date and the largest regulated kitchen network you have led.
3. 49 words maximum. Describe a production or dispatch decision you stopped despite direct airline punctuality pressure.