Air travel has been critically impacted by the coronavirus pandemic. Airlines are struggling to keep their businesses open and are resorting to extreme tactics to entice people to travel despite the health concerns and threat of death from COVID-19. Just because air travel might not be on your calendar for the next few months, that does not mean that you can’t be prepared for the first flight you take when America enters the post-COVID world.
Diet Coke is one drink that requires flight attendants to work hard for their salary. Next time you are asked to order a drink on a plane, you might want to rethink ordering a Diet Coke if you want to make your flight attendant’s life easier. Although there is no health and safety concern around Diet Coke, it takes flight attendants a very long time to deliver the drink.
Jet, a flight attendant and writer of These Gold Wings blog, discusses the annoyance of ordering Diet Coke on an airplane.
“As you may know, the aircraft cabin is not pressurized to sea level, but rather to the equivalent of about 7 or 8 thousand feet. This means some passengers might feel a little light-headed or that alcohol affects them almost twice as much as it would on the ground. It also means soft drinks foam up a lot more when poured out of a can,” the flight attendant wrote.
“The worst culprit for this is Diet Coke. I literally have to sit and wait for the bubbles to fall before I can continue pouring. If all three passengers ask for a diet coke, I’ll often get them started, take another three drink orders, serve those, and then finish the diet cokes.”
Germaphobes already know that it is wise to coffee and tea on airplanes. Water on the plane is not closely regulated and may contain bacteria or germs. A sample test from 2013 found that Coliform, a bacteria, was present in water samples on my airplanes. Although Coliform won’t make anyone sick, it can indicate the presence of E. Coli, which can make you very sick.
According to the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, water can be dangerous on an airplane.
“Water onboard is regulated under the Environmental Protection Agency to ensure safe drinking water on the aircraft. The Association of Flight Attendants-CWA pushed for this regulation over 15 years ago. The regulation gives broad discretion to airlines on how often they must test the water and flush the tanks. AFA does not believe this regulation goes far enough or is sufficiently enforced.”
While ordering Diet Coke on a plane won’t make you sick, “Pouring diet coke is one of the biggest slowdowns in the bar service.”
Although pouring Diet Coke midflight takes more work for flight attendants, Jet clarifies one thing on her blog.
“Here is my official stance on passengers ordering Diet Coke … I don’t care what you want to drink. I’ll pour it, and I won’t have a second thought about it.”
What do you think about ordering Diet Coke on an airplane?
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