Traveling and giving solids to my 7 month old?

Each of the next two weekends we are flying out of town with my 7 month old son to visit family. One time will be with my husband and the next will be just me and my son. 3 of the 4 flights coincide with a time when I usually give my son solid food. He has been eating solids for about 2 months now and eats two huge meals of them (today for lunch he ate a large serving of oatmeal, a 4 oz jar of pears, and about 2 oz of mango). The process is really messy and he always tries to grab the spoon and feed himself which makes it even more messy. My question is, during those flights can we skip the solids and just nurse him? Will he miss them since he is eating so much? Should I change the timing around of when I offer them or will this confuse him? We will be trying to keep the same nap schedule and everything else while we are away. What have you done when traveling with your 6-8 month old who is eating solids but not yet less messy finger foods like cheerios?