Galley
The aircraft's kitchen and service preparation area, and by extension the working position of the crew member who runs it.
Definition
The galley is the compartment where meals, drinks and service equipment are stored, heated and prepared, fitted with ovens, chillers, water boilers, trolley bays and stowage. Narrow-bodies have a small galley at each end; wide-bodies have several, with a lower-deck galley on some types. The galley position — the crew member who prepares and dispatches the service rather than serving in the aisle — is a distinct role in the crew's working positions.
What it means for you
Working the galley is a job of timing and logistics: the service goes out on your schedule, and a badly run galley shows in a cold meal at row 40. It is also the crew's only private space on board, where the briefing chat happens and where you eat standing up between services. Ovens, boilers and trolleys make it the most likely place for burns, scalds and fires.
In practice
In the aft galley of an Emirates A380 the galley operator has both economy services timed against the flight plan, with trolleys loaded and hot meals in the ovens before the seatbelt sign goes off after take-off.
Related terms
4 terms- TrolleyAircraft & cabinThe wheeled galley cart crew push through the aisle for meals, bar and duty-free — heavy, braked and the source of most crew back injuries.
- AisleAircraft & cabinThe passage between seat rows where service and passenger movement happen — one on a narrow-body, two on a wide-body.
- Fire trainingSafety & trainingHands-on training to find and fight fires on board — galley, lavatory, lithium battery — using extinguishers and a smoke hood.
- Twin-aisleFlight operationsAnother name for a wide-body aircraft, describing the cabin from the crew's side: two aisles, two service flows.