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Archive for category: FLYING FOOD GROUP

PRESS RELEASE: Two Women Sue Flying Food Group Over Alleged Sexual Assaults

Lawsuit alleges the retaliatory termination of one of the two women; a third worker has filed a state civil rights complaint against the company alleging harassment by the same manager

LOS ANGELES — Two women employed at Flying Food Group’s facility serving Los Angeles International Airport filed a lawsuit in Los Angeles County Superior Court today alleging that the then-Executive Chef of its hot kitchen sexually assaulted them.

The complaint alleges that the manager invited the women to go drinking with him at the end of a long shift while they were still at Flying Food’s facility, directed them from the workplace to a vacant, unfurnished house he owned, where he plied them with alcohol for hours – while drinking little himself – and then sexually assaulted each of them in an empty room in the back of the house.

The complaint also alleges that the manager at one point told a coworker that he was going to “f*** them all,” referring to women he supervised in the kitchen.

The complaint further alleges that in the months that followed the assault, the manager subjected both women to escalating and selective discipline at work – and that in late August 2026, after one of the women took steps signaling that she intended to pursue legal action, Flying Food Group terminated her employment.

“Even though it is hard, I am coming forward because what happened to us should never happen to any woman who just wants to do her job. Flying Food Group needs to be held accountable,” said Zayra Lopez, one of the women bringing the lawsuit.

“I am doing this for my daughter.  If God forbid something like this ever happened to her, I would want her to feel like she could come forward,” said Estefania Amador, the other plaintiff in the case.

A third worker has also filed a complaint against Flying Food Group with the California Civil Rights Department, alleging that the same manager repeatedly propositioned her at work over a period of months – advances she rebuffed every time. The complaint alleges that she, too, was recently terminated.

“I commend my clients for their courage in coming forward and speaking publicly about their allegations of sexual assault at the hands of their supervisor,” said Lauren Teukolsky, one of the attorneys for the plaintiffs. According to the Equal Employment Opportunities Commission (EEOC), 70% of individuals who experience sexual harassment never report it.

Six other women previously came forward with allegations that they experienced sexual harassment at Flying Food Group’s LAX facility – including several who alleged that, after coming forward, they were subjected to discipline, suspension, and threats of termination.

Flying Food Group has prepared food at LAX for airlines including Air France, Lufthansa, SWISS, Austrian Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Japan Airlines, ANA, Singapore Airlines, Qantas, and Air New Zealand, among others. The company is only permitted to operate at Los Angeles International Airport under a special license issued by the City of Los Angeles. That license is currently up for renewal, and Los Angeles World Airports is investigating the company’s compliance record following a February request by Mayor Karen Bass.

The filings come amid mounting government scrutiny of the company’s operations at LAX. Over the last several years, five different government agencies — Cal/OSHA, the California Labor Commissioner, the California Highway Patrol, the National Labor Relations Board, and the City of Los Angeles’ Bureau of Contract Administration — have issued citations or complaints against the company for violations of worker protection and public safety laws, including workplace safety violations, wage theft, and unfair labor practices.

Most recently, on May 20, 2026, Cal/OSHA issued six new Citations and Notifications of Penalty to the company, including four classified as “serious,” carrying $74,000 in total proposed penalties. Those citations followed a fire at the company’s Inglewood facility on January 22, 2026, during which, according to a complaint filed with Cal/OSHA, two workers were found inside a cold storage room whose entrance door had been chained shut from the outside. At each of the company’s two facilities serving LAX, Cal/OSHA cited a serious violation for failing to ensure that cold storage rooms could be opened from the inside — the same hazard for which the agency first cited the company in 2023.

The plaintiffs in the lawsuit are represented by Lauren Teukolsky of Teukolsky Law and Jeremy Blasi of UNITE HERE Local 11.

Flying Food Group: Press Tsunami Over Alleged Health Violations







In-flight catering workers the Flying Food Group kitchen in LA reported exposure to cockroaches, mold, maggots, and excessive heat while preparing in-flight meals for flights leaving LAX. And—of course—the press worldwide went nuts over it! Here’s a sample of the coverage.

BREAKING NEWS: Workers File New Safety Complaint on Alleged Maggots, Mold, Cockroaches and Other Issues at LAX Caterer Flying Food Group

Complaint follows Cal/OSHA citations for multiple “serious” workplace safety violations

LOS ANGELES:  Workers have filed a complaint with the California Division of Occupational Safety and Health (Cal/OSHA), urging state inspectors to investigate allegations of unsafe or unsanitary conditions inside Flying Food Group’s airline catering facilities serving Los Angeles International Airport.

The complaint, filed on behalf of workers by UNITE HERE Local 11, alleges that employees have been exposed to a range of unsafe conditions—including what workers reported to be maggots, mold, and cockroaches, as well as inadequate soap and paper towels and excessive heat—inside facilities responsible for preparing thousands of airline meals. The union has submitted photographs, videos, and worker testimony and is calling for an expedited on-site inspection.

According to the complaint, in late June 2026, one longtime employee was allegedly ordered to open airline dish carts that had sat unopened for an extended period and discovered dishes covered in decomposing food, and what appeared to be mold, maggots, and flies, producing an overwhelming stench.  The worker allegedly suggested that the dishes be discarded, but was instead instructed by a supervisor to wash them because the dishes were needed for an upcoming flight. According to the complaint, the worker—who reported experiencing stomach pain, a headache, and a strange sensation in her nose while handling the noxious material—was not provided a mask or respirator to protect herself.

The complaint also alleges that workers have reported seeing what they believed to be cockroaches and other vermin in various parts of the facility—including in food preparation areas, near employee changing stations, near airline food carts, and inside the employee cafeteria.  The complaint cites California laws requiring that employers provide a safe workplace and take steps to prevent the entrance or harborage of insects, rodents or other vermin.

The complaint also alleges that bathrooms and handwashing stations have often lacked adequate soap or paper towels, forcing employees to search elsewhere before returning to prepare food. Additionally, the complaint raises concerns about the quality of food served to workers at the facility, including allegations of expired or stale bread, food contaminated by debris, and improperly stored food.

The complaint also describes dangerously high temperatures in the facility’s dish room. A longtime employee reports that heat and humidity regularly make the room feel like “being in a sauna,” allegedly causing fatigue, dehydration, and headaches, and that a coworker reportedly nearly fainted from the heat. According to the complaint, management has been made aware of the problem but has not been provided a solution. The complaint asserts that these and other incidents, taken together, indicate that the company lacks the effective injury and illness prevention program required by California law.

“No one should have to work around maggots, cockroaches, mold, and rotting food just to earn a paycheck, as this complaint alleges,” said Susan Minato, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11, which represents the workers. “The workers who prepare meals for airline passengers deserve a workplace that meets the most basic standards of cleanliness and safety. We ask Cal/OSHA to take these issues seriously and investigate immediately.”

A Record of Safety Violations

Flying Food Group’s LAX operations have a long record of alleged safety violations. Most recently, in May 2026, Cal/OSHA issued the company six citations, including four it termed “Serious.”  Two of the serious violations related to the company’s failure to ensure that cold storage rooms at two LAX facilities could be utilized safely and opened from the inside. In August 2023, Cal/OSHA had cited the company for the same storage room entrapment hazard—as part of a six-violation citation that also included bolting an exit door shut from the outside on the day of a planned worker picket line—but the company apparently did not correct the hazard.  This led to a near tragedy during a fire in January 2026 in which two workers were found inside a cooler room whose entrance door had been chained shut from the outside. These citations and a summary are available here.

The complaint comes amid an ongoing labor dispute between Flying Food Group and UNITE HERE Local 11 over conditions at the company’s LAX facilities. In the course of that dispute, the union has proposed multiple workplace safety protections which Flying Food Group has rejected.

Flying Food Group is an airline catering company that provides in-flight meals for international airlines flying out of LAX like Lufthansa, Air France, SWISS Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, ANA, Starlux, China Southern, Qantas, Air New Zealand, and Hawaiian Airlines.  LAX authorities recently gave FFG only a six-month extension—terminating at the end of 2026—to its license to operate at LAX.  The City has launched an investigation into the Company’s safety and labor practices.

PRESS RELEASE: As L.A. City Investigation Continues, Serial Lawbreaker Flying Food Group Quietly Moves to Repay Dozens of Workers It Failed to Provide Required Healthcare Benefits in Apparent Violation of LAX Living Wage Law

LOS ANGELES — As the City of Los Angeles continues investigating Flying Food Group for alleged violations of the LAX Living Wage Ordinance, the airline caterer has begun quietly paying dozens of workers after city investigators uncovered an additional apparent violation involving required healthcare benefits.

In March of this year, workers filed a complaint with the City of Los Angeles alleging that Flying Food Group’s newly implemented healthcare plan failed to satisfy the LAX Living Wage Ordinance’s healthcare benefit requirement, which currently requires employers to provide qualifying health benefits valued at $7.65 per hour or pay the equivalent amount in additional wages. Workers contend the company’s health plan is worth less than the required amount, leaving nearly all 800 workers underpaid. That investigation remains ongoing.

During the course of the investigation, however, the City’s Bureau of Contract Administration (BCA) uncovered a separate violation. Investigators found that Flying Food Group failed to provide any healthcare credit at all to some workers, resulting in an underpayment of $7.65 per hour for every hour worked.  It appears the violation primarily affected newly hired employees but also included several longtime workers.

“The number of times this company has failed to pay workers what we are owed or done something else to break the law is just crazy. These payments show me the company had the money to pay us all along. That is a company that does not respect us or value us,” said Pascual Salgado, a worker at Flying Food Group

After BCA notified Flying Food Group of the violation, the company began issuing payments to affected workers last week, with individual payments reportedly ranging from several hundred dollars to approximately $14,000. Flying Food Group has since submitted a list of workers it says have been paid, and BCA is now reviewing whether all affected employees were included and whether the payment amounts fully compensate workers for what they are owed.

Flying Food Group has violated the Living Wage Ordinance on multiple occasions previously, with multiple “notice of corrections” issued to the company and its subcontractors by BCA and two class action lawsuits, and the company agreeing to paying millions in back wages to workers. The company has twice sued the City, claiming the Living Wage Ordinance did not apply to them, and in the last instance, the settlement agreement included a commitment by the company that they would not make such a challenge again.

The discovery marks the latest alleged labor law violation involving Flying Food Group. In addition to the past violations of the Living Wage Ordinance, the company has also received citations or settled complaints with Cal/OSHA, the California Labor Commissioner, the National Labor Relations Board and the California Highway Patrol..

Flying Food Group is an airline catering company that provides in-flight meals for international airlines flying out of LAX like Lufthansa, Air France, SWISS Airlines, Virgin Atlantic, Austrian Airlines, LOT Polish, Scandinavian Airlines, Singapore Airlines, Japan Airlines, ANA, Starlux, China Southern Qantas, Air New Zealand, and Hawaiian Airlines. Flying Food Group was recently given only a 6-month license extension by the City of Los Angeles which lasts until the end of 2026.

Hailin Shan Won His Job Back!

Hailin Shan, a cook who led other cooks in the 2023 Flying Food strike and was fired on July 2023. Through arbitration it was determined that there was “no just cause to terminate” and the arbitrator ordered the company to bring him back to work with full back pay. Hailin will now return to the Flying Food kitchen to resume working there. He will also be getting backpay going all the way to his termination date in July 2023. Welcome back Hailin!

BREAKING NEWS: Airline Caterer Flying Food Group with Record of Worker Abuse Receives “Yellow Card,” Placed on 6-Month Probation by City of LA

LOS ANGELES, CA.  In the wake of numerous complaints about worker safety and other abuses, the body that runs LAX – Los Angeles World Airports or “LAWA” – has decided to put a major airline caterer for international flights, Flying Food Group, on a status akin to probation.

Companies serving LAX must obtain a special permit called a Certified Service Provider License from the City.  Complying with worker protections is a condition of such licenses, which have historically been granted for periods of five years.

Flying Food Group has been embroiled in controversy for years, as five different government agencies issued citations or complaints against the company for issues ranging from paying workers less than the minimum wage to serious safety hazards.

In response to persistent complaints from workers, LAWA has now decided to deny FFG an ordinary five-year license, and instead issue the company a conditional term for a period of just six months.  It is expected that LAX will continue an ongoing investigation of FFG’s record during this period to determine whether the conditional license should be continued.

Given this development, major airlines that have been sourcing from FFG–including Virgin Atlantic, Air New Zealand, Air France, Lufthansa, Swiss Airways, ANA, Japan Airlines, and Qantas–may need to look to alternative suppliers for their inflight meals.

Serving the airport is a lucrative business, with Certified Service Provider License holders collectively making close to a half billion dollars a year. Flying Food Group is one of the highest-grossing of these companies, making $112 million in revenue in FY 2025.

In April 2026, the Board of Airport Commissioners granted LAWA staff the authority to approve new 5-year terms for all 77 firms that have entered into Certified Service Provider Licenses.  LAWA staff  created three categories for license renewal: five-year renewals for low risk companies and industries, one-year renewals for companies and industries with higher risk and six-month probationary renewals that require more in-depth review.

LAX placed Flying Food Group in the final category, which workers have taken to calling the “penalty box.”  The move follows years of worker complaints to City leaders by Flying Food Group workers, who have raised concerns about alleged wage theft, retaliation, sexual harassment, and other issues at 48 LAWA meetings.

Over the last several months, two separate reports have detailed the company’s long record of labor abuse: one report co-authored by the former Deputy Director General of the International Labor Organization–and another report endorsed by a Truth Commission of major labor and civil rights leaders and experts.

Most recently, last month Cal/OSHA issued the company four new citations it deemed “serious,” including two citations for failing to ensure that workers could exit cold storage rooms–a hazard for which it was previously cited and which led to a near tragedy during a fire in January in which two workers were found in a cooler room that had been locked from the outside.

Workers and labor leaders reacted to the decision as a positive step in the efforts to hold City licensees accountable for worker abuse, while at the same time urging the City to LAWA and Mayor Karen Bass to now revoke Flying Foods Group’s conditional license.

Elisa Valencia, a worker at Flying Food Group, said:
“I am glad the City has taken this step to begin to hold FFG accountable. We work hard serving travelers and we deserve to work in conditions that do not endanger our lives.”

Susan Minato, Co-President of UNITE HERE Local 11, said:
“No company is above the law. For years, Flying Food Group workers have courageously spoken out about unsafe conditions, wage theft, and a culture that puts profits ahead of people.  We’re now finally seeing the City begin to listen to their cries for help.  But while this is an important first step, the truth is that this company has committed more ‘red cards’ at this point than any we’ve ever seen and they have no business operating at LAX.”

The City of Los Angeles has already issued six determinations finding Flying Food Group or its subcontractors in violation of the airport minimum wage ordinance and is currently investigating an additional complaint. Since 2017, the company has settled two wage theft class-action lawsuits totaling more than $4.5 million.

Today’s decision represents a significant step forward for airline catering workers who have spent years demanding safer workplaces, legal compliance, and accountability from one of LAX’s largest service providers. Workers will continue to organize until full accountability is reached.

CAPITAL & MAIN: Did Los Angeles City Hall Blink by Delaying the Olympic Wage?

In the end, Elisa Valencia, who works for Flying Food Group, was left wondering what exactly happened to her vision for the future. She said she has been putting in serious overtime, sometimes working 13-hour days at the airline food company in order to keep up with the rising cost of living in Los Angeles.
Her wage is going to rise from $22.50 to $25 an hour this summer, a welcome first step toward some relief. But Valencia said knowing that the $30 figure was only two years off had made the thought of logging so many hours tolerable.
Now? “Four years away,” Valencia said. The idea of getting into an apartment large enough for her kids, she added, is once again on the back burner, lost to the larger struggle to keep life going in L.A

FIFA WORLD CUP TRAVEL PASSENGER ALERT!

New Serious Safety Violations at Flying Food Group (LAX)

On May 20, 2026, Cal/OSHA issued new Citations and Notifications of Penalty to Flying Food Group (“Company”) for workplace safety violations discovered during inspections of two facilities serving LAX. As set out below, these include four “serious” citations, two of which arise from the Company’s failure to ensure that cold storage rooms can be utilized safely and opened from the inside, an issue which led to a near tragedy during a fire on January 22, 2026 in which two workers were found inside a cooler room whose entrance door had been chained shut. Click here to read the full report.

Travel Daily News: European aviation unions raise concerns over Flying Food Group labour practices

European aviation trade unions have committed to mobilising support for more than 1,000 workers employed by Flying Food Group (FFG) at San Francisco International Airport (SFO) and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), following allegations concerning labour rights and workplace conditions.