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Delta Air Lines to offer Shake Shack burgers to first class customersDelta Air Lines to offer Shake Shack burgers to first class customers

Passengers taking long flights out of Boston will have the new option starting Dec. 1

Bret Thorn, Senior Food Editor

November 19, 2024

2 Min Read
Shake Shack's in-flight meal
The ShackBurger will be offered to first-class passengers on Delta Air LinesShake Shack/Delta

Delta Air Lines’ first-class passengers will soon be able to order Shake Shack burgers on flights, the burger chain said Tuesday.

Starting Dec. 1, first-class customers flying out of Boston on routes of more than 900 miles will be able to pre-select a ShackBurger made with a beef patty on a potato bun served with lettuce, tomato, and signature ShackSauce on the side. It will be served with chips, a Caesar salad, and a dark chocolate brownie. The airline and fast-casual chain said they plan to expand the offering to other domestic markets throughout 2025.

Shake Shack already has 19 licensed locations in domestic airports, including two at the Delta terminal at JFK in New York City, and it said it plans to open one at Boston’s Logan International Airport over the next six weeks (although it will not be in the Delta terminals).

Delta’s managing director for onboard service, Stephanie Laster, said in a statement that burgers are one of the most frequently ordered menu items onboard, “and we’re thrilled to elevate the offering with Shake Shack.”

“However, our partnership with Shake Shack goes beyond the burger,” she added. “Shake Shack’s people-first culture and commitment to enriching their neighborhoods are spot on with our own brand values of service excellence and helping the communities we serve.” 

Related:Shake Shack offers holiday merchandise and shakes

Shake Shack was founded by hospitality expert and restaurateur Danny Meyer, whose employee-first “Enlightened Hospitality” approach is well regarded in the foodservice industry.

This deal is a continuation of a collaboration between Delta and Meyer’s Union Square Hospitality Group, whose catering arm Union Square Events, provides meals on select Delta flights out of JFK.

Shake Shack’s president of global licensing, Michael Kark, said the partnership would help expand the chain’s footprint.

"At Shake Shack, we’re always looking for new and innovative ways to meet our guests where they are, even at 35,000 feet," he said in a statement. "Taking our beloved cheeseburger to new heights, Shake Shack is proud to partner with Delta as we elevate the in-flight dining and hospitality experience for travelers across the country.” 

First class customers can make and edit their meal selections until 24 hours before their flights via the airline’s Fly Delta App, or via email link.

The Shake Shack Cheeseburger will be available via pre-select; customers can make and edit their entrée selection up to 24 hours in advance using the Fly Delta app or a link in their email, starting seven days before departure. 

Related:Shake Shack to launch loyalty program

Contact Bret Thorn at [email protected] 

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About the Author

Bret Thorn

Senior Food Editor, Nation's Restaurant News

Senior Food & Beverage Editor

Bret Thorn is senior food & beverage editor for Nation’s Restaurant News and Restaurant Hospitality for Informa’s Restaurants and Food Group, with responsibility for spotting and reporting on food and beverage trends across the country for both publications as well as guiding overall F&B coverage. 

He is the host of a podcast, In the Kitchen with Bret Thorn, which features interviews with chefs, food & beverage authorities and other experts in foodservice operations.

From 2005 to 2008 he also wrote the Kitchen Dish column for The New York Sun, covering restaurant openings and chefs’ career moves in New York City.

He joined Nation’s Restaurant News in 1999 after spending about five years in Thailand, where he wrote articles about business, banking and finance as well as restaurant reviews and food columns for Manager magazine and Asia Times newspaper. He joined Restaurant Hospitality’s staff in 2016 while retaining his position at NRN. 

A magna cum laude graduate of Tufts University in Medford, Mass., with a bachelor’s degree in history, and a member of Phi Beta Kappa, Thorn also studied traditional French cooking at Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine in Paris. He spent his junior year of college in China, studying Chinese language, history and culture for a semester each at Nanjing University and Beijing University. While in Beijing, he also worked for ABC News during the protests and ultimate crackdown in and around Tiananmen Square in 1989.

Thorn’s monthly column in Nation’s Restaurant News won the 2006 Jesse H. Neal National Business Journalism Award for best staff-written editorial or opinion column.

He served as president of the International Foodservice Editorial Council, or IFEC, in 2005.

Thorn wrote the entry on comfort food in the Oxford Encyclopedia of Food and Drink in America, 2nd edition, published in 2012. He also wrote a history of plated desserts for the Oxford Companion to Sugar and Sweets, published in 2015.

He was inducted into the Disciples d’Escoffier in 2014.

A Colorado native originally from Denver, Thorn lives in Brooklyn, N.Y.

Bret Thorn’s areas of expertise include food and beverage trends in restaurants, French cuisine, the cuisines of Asia in general and Thailand in particular, restaurant operations and service trends. 

Bret Thorn’s Experience: 

Nation’s Restaurant News, food & beverage editor, 1999-Present
New York Sun, columnist, 2005-2008 
Asia Times, sub editor, 1995-1997
Manager magazine, senior editor and restaurant critic, 1992-1997
ABC News, runner, May-July, 1989

Education:
Tufts University, BA in history, 1990
Peking University, studied Chinese language, spring, 1989
Nanjing University, studied Chinese language and culture, fall, 1988 
Le Cordon Bleu Ecole de Cuisine, Cértificat Elémentaire, 1986

Email: [email protected]

Social Media:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bret-thorn-468b663/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/bret.thorn.52
Twitter: @foodwriterdiary
Instagram: @foodwriterdiary

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