Lufthansa Group has introduced an AI-powered system called “Tray Tracker” to reduce food waste and enhance sustainability in in-flight catering. This system scans meal trays collected after flights on the dishwashing line to analyze how much food passengers consumed. The AI detects whether meals were fully eaten, partially consumed, or untouched. It also analyzes factors like flight route, travel class, and meal type to help optimize future menu planning and portion sizes.
Tray Tracker has been in use for about a year at Lufthansa’s Frankfurt hub and was recently implemented in Munich operations as well. The company plans to expand the system to other Lufthansa Group airlines and locations. This technology aims to reduce the amount of excess food carried on flights, lowering both costs and carbon emissions.
Lufthansa Group is also developing another AI project named “Pendle.” Launched in 2024 by the Lufthansa Innovation Hub, Pendle predicts in-flight meal demand by analyzing flight duration, route, and historical consumption data. In the long term, the integration of Tray Tracker and Pendle is expected to enable a fully digital and data-driven approach to managing in-flight catering processes.
These initiatives are part of Lufthansa Group’s broader sustainability strategy to cut food waste, improve operational efficiency, and enhance passenger satisfaction.
