There aren’t many hills in coffee that I’d be willing to die on. I have mighty feelings about many things related to coffee, but very few of them I impose on others with any real force. One of them is this: coffee on the plane is good. What I mean by this is that by most objective standards it is wrong, but there is an empirical element that is undeniable. Maybe these are Pavlovians and drinking watery roasted coffee is supposed to be a prelude to some adventure or a restless return home from it, but I gave up on it. Love it. I further argue that if you can’t appreciate a good cup of coffee, a bad cup of coffee at the right time and place, then you don’t really love coffee as much as you think you do.
So much for the preamble that I’m not very pleased with the recent study assessing the quality of water on airplanes compared to the proverbial hill on which I could literally die. They found that water levels on planes varied greatly depending on the carrier, but in some cases the water levels were bad. How bad, bad.
Created by Center for Food as Medicine and Longevity“a non-profit organization working to bridge the gap between customary medicine and the employ of food as medicine in the prevention, treatment and cure of disease”, 2026 Airline Water Survey examined water quality on 21 different airlines – 10 major and 11 regional. Over a three-year period, from the fourth quarter of 2022 to the third quarter of 2025, researchers collected water samples delivered during the flights and tested them for coliform bacteria, which serve as indicators of potential fecal contamination, and E. coli.
Each carrier was then given a grade from A to F based on the test results. Delta and Frontier were the only ones to receive an A rating, with numerical scores of 5.0 and 4.8, respectively. Alaska, which serves Stumptown on all flights, is better than it should be, along with Allegiant as the only two major carriers to earn B’s of 3.85 and 3.65, respectively. And at the very bottom of the list of major carriers is the American carrier, with the letter D and a rating of 1.75.
Regional carriers generally perform worse than major carriers, with Gojet topping the list with a B (3.85) and Mesa in second place with reports of only an F (1.35).
Of the total 35,674 samples tested, 949 tested positive for E. coli. However, the study noted that the results were most negatively impacted by E. coli maximum contaminant level violations, with a total of 32 violations occurring “across 21 airlines.”
For this reason, the study recommends that passengers on planes only drink water from a sealed bottle. They also suggest not washing your hands in airplane bathrooms, which should convey exactly how disgusting the water is. However, the most damning statement is that you should never drink coffee or tea on board.
This is obviously terrible news for me and my soapbox. And potentially my health too, because I refuse to change my behavior. It should be noted that at the end of the study, the researchers softened their stance somewhat, stating instead “if possible, coffee and tea made with tap water on board should be avoided.” Which I would like to thank for, he noted, but not drinking coffee is simply not possible. Even if I do live in the center of the American Airlines gray water coffee empire, but that’s another reason to get away, right?
Look, I’m just giving you information, do with it what you want. I choose to ignore it and continue to wonder why flying makes me feel like the Fourth of July.
