Spring travel in 2026 is shaping up to be as much about what is on the plate as what is on the itinerary. Two of the United States’ most destination-driven carriers, Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines, are sharpening their culinary identities with new seasonal menus and chef partnerships that treat the cabin as a tasting room. As travelers fan out across the Pacific and along the West Coast this spring, they will encounter menus that speak to place, season and story, reflecting a broader shift in airline strategy where food is no longer an amenity but a differentiator.
A New Season for Airline Dining
Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines have long traded on a sense of place, selling not just seats but a feeling of the West Coast and the islands. This spring, that promise is increasingly delivered through the meal tray. Both carriers are rolling out refreshed menus that lean into regional ingredients, chef-driven recipes and more flexible service concepts tuned to modern traveler expectations.
For Alaska Airlines, the latest evolution began in earnest last year, when the carrier introduced Chef’s (tray) Table, a rotating First Class program featuring seasonal menus from celebrated West Coast chefs. That initiative, born from the popularity of a collaboration with San Francisco chef Brandon Jew, has now expanded to include James Beard Award winners such as Seattle’s Brady Ishiwata Williams and has helped set the tone for the airline’s spring offerings in 2025 and 2026. The emphasis is on restaurant-level flavors that read distinctly Pacific: mochi waffles with tempura fried chicken, serrano chile glazed short ribs, and Cantonese-inspired tea-smoked soy chicken on transcontinental flights.
Hawaiian Airlines, meanwhile, continues to refine a culinary identity grounded in island hospitality and local talent. Its long-running Featured Chef Series has brought prominent Hawaii-based chefs into the cabin, with recent menus from Lee Anne Wong and Jason Peel showcasing dishes that travelers might encounter in Honolulu’s dining rooms. On spring flights linking Hawaii with the continental United States and with destinations such as Auckland, guests are increasingly likely to see menus that draw directly from Hawaii’s pantry: macadamia nuts, miso-marinated fish, short ribs slow-braised with red wine and shoyu, and desserts by Honolulu pastry stars.
Alaska Airlines Elevates West Coast Flavor
Alaska Airlines’ spring dining narrative is grounded in its West Coast roots. From its hubs in Seattle, Portland and San Francisco, the carrier has positioned itself as an ambassador for regional food culture, and its most recent menu announcements make that strategy explicit. The Chef’s (tray) Table program, introduced in May 2025, set the framework by committing to seasonal rotations and marquee chef names, starting with Seattle chef Brady Ishiwata Williams of Tomo. His inaugural menu brought dishes like a rice flour mochi waffle with crispy tempura fried chicken, apple miso butter and tamari-maple syrup to morning First Class departures between Seattle and major East Coast cities.
For midday and evening departures, Williams created dinner plates such as Klingemann Farms glazed short rib, paired with Shaoxing wine stir-fried rice cakes, spinach, hon-shimeji mushrooms and baby bok choy. These menus, rolling across key transcontinental routes, treated the cabin as an extension of the region’s restaurant scene, designed to showcase local farms, fermentation techniques and Japanese-influenced flavors that have come to define the contemporary Pacific Northwest palate.
On San Francisco routes, Alaska has continued to highlight chef Brandon Jew, whose Cantonese-inspired dishes debuted in early 2025 and expanded to more East Coast flights that spring. Guests in First Class on routes like San Francisco to Boston or New York have been offered Hong Kong French toast with rose-water strawberry compote and coconut-cashew butter at breakfast, and tea-smoked soy chicken or braised short ribs for lunch and dinner. The airline has made it clear that these menus are not one-off promotions but part of a structured, seasonal cadence that will continue into 2026.
Main Cabin Menus Catch Up to First Class
While the headline-grabbing names are in First Class, Alaska Airlines has also been working to narrow the gap in the Main Cabin, using spring and summer menu launches to broaden access to fresh meals. In April and July 2025, the airline announced expanded fresh options on more routes, with a focus on pre-order meals that go beyond the standard snack box. Guests on flights as short as 670 miles have gained access to favorites such as the Signature Fruit & Cheese Platter, previously reserved for longer sectors.
One of the notable spring additions has been the Best Laid Plants grain bowl, a fully plant-based and gluten-free dish created with Seattle-based salad brand Evergreens. Built around chimichurri-marinated tofu, quinoa, avocado and a side of mango habanero dressing, the bowl is available for pre-order on most flights over 1,100 miles and signals Alaska’s intent to cater to travelers looking for lighter, more sustainable options. The airline has emphasized that at least one vegan or gluten-friendly choice will be part of its rotating pre-order lineup.
In summer 2025, Alaska further diversified the paid Main Cabin menu with new items like a sweet chili chicken wrap and seasonal breakfast dishes, all tied to its mobile pre-order system. The strategy is clear: leverage technology to mitigate waste and load more complex meals, giving travelers up to five chef-curated options on qualifying flights while maintaining operational control. As spring 2026 begins, that infrastructure allows the airline to push new seasonal items to market quickly, testing flavors and formats with an increasingly food-savvy customer base.
Snacks and Sips: Small Bites, Big Statement
Beyond full meals, Alaska Airlines has started to treat snacks as brand touchpoints, particularly in Premium Class. In December 2025, the carrier introduced a complimentary Premium Class Snack Basket on select long-haul routes, offering guests a curated mix of sweet and savory items from West Coast producers. Think avocado oil sea salt potato chips, macadamia nuts, organic fruit gummies and chickpea puffs, each selected to align with the airline’s emphasis on quality and regional partnerships.
The new basket arrives alongside Alaska’s long-running focus on locally roasted coffee and West Coast beverages, rounding out a food and drink program that increasingly feels of a piece with the airline’s marketing as a friendly, neighborhood carrier for the coastal traveler. Viewed through the lens of spring travel, the message is that even shorter flights can offer an elevated experience, with complimentary snacks and pre-order meals allowing passengers to customize their journey from departure to arrival.
These moves also hint at a more competitive posture. As major U.S. carriers race to upgrade premium cabins with new seats and bigger screens, Alaska is leaning into culinary distinctiveness. By making a point of spotlighting small food brands and chef partners on menus and social channels, the airline is betting that travelers will remember what they ate as much as how they got there.
Hawaiian Airlines Doubles Down on Island Identity
Hawaiian Airlines enters spring with a culinary program that has become a calling card for the brand. The Featured Chef Series, which enlists prominent Hawaii-based chefs to design First Class menus, continues to evolve, reinforcing the sense that the vacation begins the moment passengers step on board. Recent menus curated by chefs like Lee Anne Wong have featured items such as mahi mahi poke omelets with spicy masago aioli, miso salmon salads with baby vegetables and guava shoyu kalbi short ribs served with truffle kalo and pickled vegetables.
In mid-2025, the airline added Chef Jason Peel of Honolulu’s Nami Kaze to the roster, extending the program on flights from Hawaii to the U.S. mainland through late autumn. Peel’s cooking, rooted in his Kauai upbringing and Japanese-Irish heritage, leans into home-style flavors rendered with restaurant polish, using local produce and island seafood where possible. The result is a series of menus that feel intimately tied to Hawaii’s dining scene, rather than generic “tropical” offerings.
On international routes, Hawaiian has also continued its partnership with chefs Wade Ueoka and Michelle Karr-Ueoka of Honolulu’s MW Restaurant. Business Class menus on flights like Honolulu to Auckland feature dishes such as tomato, cucumber and olive salads with basil macadamia pesto, red wine braised short ribs, grilled miso chicken and banana chocolate crunch cake. These menus, which run through the late winter period into early spring 2026, underscore the airline’s strategy of presenting a cohesive culinary story across its long-haul network.
Tasting Menus and New Service Concepts in the Sky
Hawaiian Airlines has experimented with service formats as well as flavors. In its First Class cabin on select routes, the company has tested a tasting menu concept that allows travelers to select multiple small-plate entrees rather than a single main course. Under this model, guests might choose three of five lunch or dinner options, or two of three at breakfast, effectively building a personalized flight menu.
Such a format mirrors the way diners increasingly eat on the ground, where tasting menus and shared plates have become a staple of contemporary restaurants. For the airline, the approach offers a way to showcase a wider range of island-inspired dishes in a single service, while giving frequent travelers a sense of variety from one trip to the next. It also pairs neatly with signature beverages, such as a pomegranate passion fruit drink, and desserts like mochi ice cream that reinforce the sense of place.
The tasting menu concept speaks to a broader trend playing out across both Alaska and Hawaiian: the move from one-size-fits-all catering to more modular, choice-driven service. Whether it is Alaska’s pre-order system that unlocks a suite of chef-curated options, or Hawaiian’s multi-course selections that transform the meal into an experience, the airlines are aligning inflight dining with contemporary expectations of personalization and control.
Why Food Matters More to Spring Travelers
The timing of these culinary pushes is not incidental. Spring marks a pivot between winter escapes and peak summer travel, a season characterized by a mix of leisure trips, shoulder-season deals and increasingly, long-haul dream vacations. As travelers weigh where to spend both time and money, airlines are leaning on food as a way to differentiate what might otherwise be interchangeable flights.
For West Coast travelers headed to the East Coast or to Hawaii for spring getaways, menus that highlight Cantonese modernism or island comfort food can tip perception of value, especially in premium cabins where ticket prices are higher and expectations for service are sharper. In the Main Cabin, access to fresh, thoughtfully designed meals can alleviate some of the fatigue of multi-hour flights and reduce the friction of planning around airport dining.
There is also a sustainability dimension. Both Alaska and Hawaiian have emphasized partnerships with local farms, purveyors and small businesses, framing their culinary initiatives as investments in regional economies. Plant-forward dishes like Alaska’s grain bowl or Hawaiian’s vegetable-focused noodle plates align with changing consumer attitudes around meat consumption and environmental impact, even if they represent only a slice of the overall catering operation.
What Passengers Can Expect This Spring
Travelers booking spring flights on Alaska Airlines and Hawaiian Airlines can expect a more intentional food and beverage experience across cabins, even if menus and chef lineups vary by route and date. On Alaska, First Class guests on key transcontinental services from Seattle and San Francisco are likely to encounter chef-branded menus featuring a mix of comfort and innovation, from mochi bubble waffles to slow-braised short ribs. Premium Class travelers will see a refreshed snack basket stocked with recognizable West Coast brands, while Main Cabin passengers on qualifying flights can tap into an expanded universe of pre-order meals, including plant-based options and the ever-popular fruit and cheese platter.
On Hawaiian Airlines, spring promises continued emphasis on island flavors presented with fine-dining sensibilities. First and Business Class customers on long-haul flights should look for menus developed by Hawaii-based chefs that celebrate local produce, seafood and condiments, and in some cases, tasting-style formats that allow them to sample several dishes on a single journey. Economy and Extra Comfort cabins will still skew toward simpler service models, but the influence of the premium program often trickles down through upgraded entrees and dessert selections on longer flights.
For both airlines, the message to travelers is that meals are no longer an afterthought. As spring itineraries take shape, passengers comparing schedules and fares will increasingly encounter food photography, chef profiles and menu descriptions alongside aircraft types and seat maps. In a competitive market where hard products and loyalty programs can look remarkably similar, Alaska and Hawaiian are wagering that a memorable meal at 30,000 feet can help tip the scales when travelers decide how to get where they are going.