The Gross Reason You May Want To Avoid Coffee And Tea When Flying

Flying is uncomfortable enough — cramped legs, stale air, and way too many strangers packed into a pressurized metal tube. And look, we're not trying to scare you into giving up flying for good, but remember the toasty coffee and tea that the kind flight attendants offer you mid-flight as part of your meal option? Well, you'll want to skip those. Not because it tastes terrible or anything (thought it typically does), but once you learn where that cup actually comes from, you'll get why so many flight attendants refuse to order it themselves.

Here's the thing: planes have one water tank. One. It supplies everything: Drinking water, hand-washing, and toilet flushing. So when you get that steaming cup of coffee, it's been made with water that's also used to do some pretty questionable work. Despite the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and a host of other bodies having strict regulations over the water quality via the Aircraft Drinking Water Rule (ADWR), these regulations are, let's say, leaky. Even though the water tank is drained and refilled often, by law, they only have to be deep-cleaned four times a year (or once a year, but with monthly safety tests). 

This, apparently, isn't enough, because the water tank can become so disgusting between services that flight attendants confirmed that they generally avoid hot drinks. More damning is that, in a 2026 study done by the non-profit Center for Food as Medicine & Longevity, most airlines received abysmal scores in terms of water safety, with American Airlines having the lowest score. For something you're putting in your body, you'd think hygiene would rank higher on the priority list.

As flight attendant Jamila Hardwick reasoned in an interview with Inside Edition, "The thing about the coffee and tea, the pipes are rarely cleaned." As a result, she and her colleagues avoid hot beverages while working. While the skies might not be so friendly for anything that comes out of a cup, the good news is there are safer solutions than sitting parched for four hours. Ask the flight attendant for anything sealed in a can or bottle. A soda, juice in a carton, bottle of sparkling or still — whatever else that arrived in the plane's gallery pre-packaged and untouched before hitting your table tray is good. 

Some sodas taste different on airplanes, due to science, but they'll still keep you nicely hydrated. Pro tip: Ask if the plane's cold brew or iced coffee is bottled. Lots of them are premade and simply poured out for you, rather than brewed "fresh" with tank water. And, who knows, you might be able to score a free espresso martini, like when Delta surprised their passengers with one back in 2023. But if you really have to have something hot, your best bet is to simply enjoy a tea or coffee in the terminal before boarding.