Flights offer their passengers a selection of food and drink to choose from. It’s a truth universally acknowledged that the standard of meals and snacks can vary greatly, depending on the airline you fly with. However, it’s also the quality of drinking water onboard that passengers need to be aware of. According to a study, some airlines could be providing water with traces of the bacteria E.coli.
The 2019 Airline Water Study, released by Diet Detective and Hunter College’s NYC Food Policy Center in the USA, has revealed some airlines are serving poor quality water.
Certain American carriers were found to be in violation of the Aircraft Drinking Water Rule (ADWR), which sets the standard for safe drinking water.
The study ranked 11 major and 12 regional airlines in the US by the quality of the drinking water they provide passengers.
The ADWR requires airlines to test their water for coliform bacteria and E. coli.
Carriers also need to disinfect and flush aircraft water tanks four times a year and conduct regular water tests.
However, the findings of the 2019 Airline Water Study suggest some airlines are not being as rigorous as they ought to be.
E. coli and other contaminants are ending up in the water supply of certain planes.
The water on JetBlue and Spirit was found to be the worst quality and nearly all regional airlines, except Piedmont, had poor Water Health Scores and a large number of ADWR violations.
Both JetBlue and Spirit received a water score of one on a one-to-five scale. A score of 3.0 or better indicates that the airline has relatively safe, clean water.
“Regional airlines need to improve their onboard water safety,” Charles Platkin, the editor of DietDetective.com and the executive director of the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center, said.
The major airlines receiving the highest Airline Water Health Score were Allegiant and Alaska – each with a score of 3.3 on a 0-to-5 scale. Hawaiian Airlines is a close second at 3.1.
According to the Mayo Clinic: “Most varieties of E. coli are harmless or cause relatively brief diarrhoea. But a few particularly nasty strains, such as E. coli O157:H7, can cause severe abdominal cramps, bloody diarrhoea and vomiting.”
The airline study’s authors issued advice to travellers in light of the alarming findings.
To be “extra safe” they recommend never drinking any water onboard that isn’t in a sealed bottle.
They advise against drinking coffee or tea onboard and say passengers should use hand sanitiser after visiting the bathroom instead of washing their hands with water.
Express.co.uk has contacted JetBlue and Spirit for further comment on the results.
A flight attendant has previously spoken up about why fliers should steer clear of airline hot drinks.
Flight attendant Kelly Payne said: “Don’t ever drink the coffee on the plane. “There’s a reason airplane coffee gets a bad rap. It isn’t made with bottled water, and let’s just say the airplane’s potable water isn’t very desirable.”
She added: “The valves for cleaning out the lavatory waste and filling the clean water are very close to each other and sometimes serviced by the same guy, at the same time.”