Singapore Airlines Apologise After Accidentally Serves Muslim Passenger Pork Mid-Flight — Here’s What Happened!

Long-haul flights can be gruelling, especially the 18-hour journey from Singapore to New York. For Muslim travellers, one thing that brings peace of mind is knowing that halal meal requests are taken seriously by airlines.

But for Jey, a Singapore permanent resident and practising Muslim for over 30 years, that peace of mind was shattered during his Singapore Airlines SQ24 flight.

The incident

Image credit: Singapore Airlines | Official Website

Jey had booked a Muslim meal for the refreshment service. But for lunch, he decided to try the airline’s Book the Cook service, which lets passengers pre-order dishes from a special menu.

He was served a dish labelled “Grilled Mediterranean Salad with Prosciutto”. Not knowing what prosciutto was, he asked a crew member if it was bacon. The crew confidently told him it wasn’t and assured him it was safe for him to eat.

Trusting their answer, he began his meal — only to later look it up and discover that prosciutto is actually Italian dry-cured ham (pork).

His reaction

Image credit: Britannica | Official Website

For Muslims, pork is strictly prohibited. Learning that he had unknowingly consumed it left Jey in shock. When he confronted the crew, they explained that the staff member who served him was junior and “did not know prosciutto was pork” and might have misheard his question.

The airline’s response

Jey filed a complaint with Singapore Airlines. Initially, he was offered a S$150 KrisShop voucher, then 15,000 KrisFlyer miles, and finally 30,000 miles — all of which he refused.

Calling the offers “saddening and insulting”, he pointed out that his business-class ticket cost about S$10,000 and that “no person of faith — Muslim, Jew, Hindu, or otherwise — would ever willingly break a sacred dietary law in exchange for 30,000 miles.”

He has since escalated the issue to the US Department of Transportation.

Singapore Airlines’ statement

The airline confirmed the mistake and apologised for “the distress caused”. A customer service officer admitted that the crew were initially unsure whether prosciutto was pork and had served it without confirming.

Once the error was realised, the dish was removed, an apology was given, and alternatives were offered.

SIA says it has now strengthened cabin crew training and service procedures to prevent similar incidents. It also reminded passengers with dietary requirements to pre-book special meals for all meal services on flights with multiple rounds, such as SQ24.

A lesson for Muslim travellers

This case is a stark reminder that even on world-class airlines, mistakes can happen. For Muslim travellers, taking a few extra precautions can make a big difference when it comes to ensuring meals are truly halal throughout the journey.

One of the most important steps is to pre-book halal meals for every meal service on long-haul flights, rather than assuming the airline will automatically provide them after the first. On flights with multiple meal rounds, each service may have a different menu and preparation process, so confirming in advance can prevent unwanted surprises.

It’s also wise to double-check unfamiliar menu items with the cabin crew and, if possible, request details about the ingredients before eating. This is especially important when dishes use foreign culinary terms that may not be widely recognised.

Finally, familiarising yourself with common non-halal food terms in other languages can help you spot potential red flags on a menu. Words like prosciutto, lardons, or speck may look harmless, but all refer to pork products.

While Singapore Airlines has apologised for this incident and promised to improve crew training, it’s worth remembering that a little vigilance — and a bit of food vocabulary knowledge — can go a long way toward avoiding such situations in the sky.

Source: Malay Mail via Mothership