Why is airplane food so bland?

If you don’t enjoy that in-flight meal, it’s not the food – it’s you. 

According to Grant Mickels, executive chef for Lufthansa, at 35,000 feet, the first thing that goes is your sense of taste. He says the cabin atmosphere makes your taste buds go numb, almost as if you had a cold. Once we reach cruising altitude, our perception of saltiness and sweetness drops by around 30%. That’s one reason we may crave something like salted nuts once we’re flying high.