A chilled air plenum system for aircraft galleys adapted to be connected to a food cart bay for a food cart includes an air return plenum having a return airflow duct with a plurality of midline primary apertures and a plurality of secondary lateral side edge apertures for receiving return airflow from the food cart. The return airflow duct also includes a central lower resilient back stop and lateral side edge resilient back stops to prevent a cart from impacting the rear of the food cart bay. The return air plenum cab be at least partially integrated into a galley back wall structure.