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It has been years since I have consumed coffee or tea on an airplane. The thought of the water tanks not being properly cleaned and water sitting in them for extended periods of time just skeeves me out. I’m quite content to carry my Starbucks on the aircraft and even knowing that some airlines ranked well in this study does not make me feel any better about drinking the water. It’s quite fascinating to see what’s going on inside the water tanks.
The Center for Food as Medicine and Longevity (the organization that conducted the study) agrees with me that this water is gross and offers these tips:
- Never drink water that isn’t coming from a sealed bottle.
- Do not drink coffee or tea.
- Do not wash your hands in the lavatory.
The last one is a bit much for me, but I do agree to use hand sanitizer in addition when on planes.
Here is how the US airlines ranked on a scale of 0.0 to 5.0:
- Delta Air Lines: 5.00 (Grade A)
- Frontier Airlines: 4.80 (Grade A)
- Alaska Airlines: 3.85 (Grade B)
- GoJet Airlines: 3.85 (Grade B)
- Allegiant Air: 3.65 (Grade B)
- Southwest Airlines: 3.30 (Grade C)
- Hawaiian Airlines: 3.15 (Grade C)
- Piedmont Airlines: 3.05 (Grade C)
- Sun Country Airlines: 3.00 (Grade C)
- Endeavor Air: 2.95 (Grade C)
- United Airlines: 2.70 (Grade C)
- SkyWest Airlines: 2.40 (Grade D)
- Envoy Air: 2.30 (Grade D)
- PSA Airlines: 2.25 (Grade D)
- Air Wisconsin Airlines: 2.15 (Grade D)
- Republic Airways: 2.05 (Grade D)
- Spirit Airlines: 2.05 (Grade D)
- JetBlue: 1.80 (Grade D)
- American Airlines: 1.75 (Grade D)
- CommuteAir: 1.60 (Grade D)
- Mesa Airlines: 1.35 (Grade F)
Mesa Airlines is the only carrier to fail altogether and American Airlines is the lowest of the Big 3. Delta Air Lines seems to be doing the best job of keeping its water clean, but that still does not mean I’m drinking it. Unhealthy water violates the federal government’s Aircraft Drinking Water Rule (ADWR). This was implemented in 2011 and requires airlines to provide passengers and flight crews with safe drinking water. The ADWR requires airlines to test the water held in their tanks for coliform bacteria and possible E. coli. Airlines are also required to disinfect and flush the water tanks 4x per year. An airline can choose to disinfect and flush 1x per year instead, but then it must test the water monthly.
This study analyzed 35,674 total samples for total coliform bacteria across all airlines. Of these, 949 locations (2.66%) tested positive for total coliform. You can read more here.
Anthony’s Take: I’ll continue to refrain from drinking coffee or tea during flights. I’m not as worried about getting sick as I am around the simple ick factor.
(H/T: View from the Wing.)
(Image Credits: YakobchukOlena and wisely via iStock.)
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Advertiser & Editorial Disclosure: The Bulkhead Seat earns an affiliate commission for anyone approved through the links above This compensation may impact how and where links appear on this site. We work to provide the best publicly available offers to our readers. We frequently update them, but this site does not include all available offers. Opinions, reviews, analyses & recommendations are the author’s alone, and have not been reviewed, endorsed, or approved by any of these entities.
