Opinion ID: 784946
Heading Depth: 4
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Ogden/SkyChefs

Text: 43 Air France contracted with Ogden (later acquired by SkyChefs) to provide catering services for its return flight to France. Air France had a master chef who would prepare a menu for Air France flights. Air France communicated this menu to Ogden, along with information about the number of passengers, special meal requests, etc. Ogden owned all its own kitchen equipment. It purchased and prepared all the food in its kitchen, although Air France supplied some specialty items, such as cheese and caviar. Ogden loaded the food onto Air France trays and carts, which were transported to and loaded onto the plane. 44 Ogden employees might have spent 45 minutes a day on the Air France aircraft; the rest of the time they were at the Ogden facility or in transit. Ogden serviced other carriers at the same time it provided service to Air France. Air France paid Ogden based on the number of meals and other services provided, regardless of the number of employees servicing Air France or the number of hours those employees worked. 45 An Air France employee who was responsible for the airline's catering occupied a small office in the Ogden kitchen, received information from Air France and transmitted it to the caterer. This Air France employee also performed quality checks on the food, such as random taste tests, and sent meals to Air France headquarters once a week to check for bacteria. Any problems with food quality were communicated to the Ogden supervisor, usually at a monthly meeting. Air France had no control over hiring, firing, disciplining or scheduling of Ogden employees, other than indicating at what time the meals needed to be ready to load onto the plane. 46 Air France terminated its relationship with Ogden (then SkyChefs) in 2000. A SkyChef supervisor testified there was no change in the number of employees he supervised after Air France stopped using its catering services.