As a food and travel journalist, I find myself racking up thousands of miles and flying several times a month. And thanks to my Platinum status with Delta, sometimes I can enjoy a free upgrade. So when the airline announced a “first-of-its-kind partnership” with Shake Shack—serving up the brand’s iconic cheeseburger to first-class passengers—I had to cash in some of my points.
First, let’s get through the smallprint. The burgers are only available to first-class passengers on flights departing Boston’s Logan Airport after 9:46am, on routes that are more than 900 miles long. (Delta has teased plans to launch the collaboration in more cities starting in 2025.) And here’s the big thing: Passengers must pre-select the cheeseburger at least 24 hours before departure. So if you’re keeping your fingers crossed to score a last-minute upgrade, you might miss out on trying the cheeseburger at cruising altitude because there won't be any extras onboard.
While airplane food is polarizing, I’m someone who genuinely loves having a hot meal in the air, rather than a sad granola bar that’s been in my carry-on bag for who knows how long. It may not always be restaurant-quality, but when you’ve cut things too close and don’t have time to stop by the lounge for a quick bite before the flight, an in-flight meal is a welcome sight.
However, I wasn’t sure how I’d feel about this new item landing on the in-flight menu. Pasta is one thing, but a cheeseburger? I could only imagine a sad, mushy bun and a dry, flavorless patty—nevermind how the smell might permeate the cabin. But I’m delighted to say that this meal was way better than I was expecting it to be.
So how does the burger stack up to a typical ’Shack? Well, things look a little different at 36,000 feet. Don’t expect to see the fries and Concretes you’d find on the ground. Delta exclusively serves the cheeseburger with a Caesar salad, potato chips and a dark chocolate brownie. The cheeseburger is a 100% Angus beef patty topped with cheese, like it is at the restaurant. In flight, it’s served on a toasted potato bun with tomato, lettuce, pickles, onions and Shack Sauce all served on the side.
The cheeseburger was fantastic: The patty retained its crispy, caramelized crust, the cheese was perfectly melted, and the potato bun was soft without being soggy. This is most likely due in part to how the burger is prepared. The bottom bun, meat and cheese come pre-assembled, while the top bun is added after heating. Keeping the toppings on the side ensured that the burger felt fresh, and it wasn’t cumbersome to assemble it in the cabin.
Delta and Shake Shack teams worked closely together to ensure they would be able to offer a cheeseburger that meets passengers' expectations onboard, says Natalia Arenas Gallo, a corporate communications officer for Delta. That process included Shake Shack training Delta’s kitchen staff and sharing cooking instructions—down to detailed preparation procedures for each of the burger components, and the types of cooking tools that should be used when preparing the food.
The Caesar salad was slightly unorthodox as it included cucumbers, but that’s nothing that Massachusetts’ own Ken’s Steak House Caesar dressing can’t fix, and that’s what the side comes with. But the real star of the show was the Shake Shack-branded dark chocolate brownie. As a trained pastry chef, I’ve both baked and eaten my fair share of brownies. This one was without a doubt the best I’ve ever had—perfectly fudgy without being gooey and deliciously dense. Did I ask if they had any extras onboard? I sure did. They didn’t, but it never hurts to try.
The smell was virtually non-existent, perhaps due in part to the HEPA filters that most commercial aircraft are equipped with.
Here’s hoping that this collaboration won’t be departing anytime soon.