Water on most US airlines is not safe to drink, study says

Just thee of the major airlines provided 'acceptable' safe drinking water. Photo / Getty Images

If there's one thing long-haul flyers are told it's to drink water, lots of it.

Dehydration is one of the major factors in air travel illnesses, from jet lag to deep vein thrombosis, but now a study has suggested that the water provided on planes may not be safe to drink at all.

The new report by Hunter College NYC and DietDetective.com revealed that just three of the US's major airlines, and one of the regional carriers had water that would be deemed acceptable to drink.

"The quality of drinking water varies by airline, and many airlines have provided passengers with unhealthy water," wrote Dr Charles Platkin, who authored the report.

The report went as far as to say that the airlines may be breaking laws which require them to provide safe drinking water for passengers and crew.

Water samples from airplanes were given a "water health" score, marking the samples for factors such as number of violations of Aircraft Drinking Water Rules (ADRW), traces of coliform or e-coli bacteria, and the airlines' cooperation in the study.

None of the 23 airlines examined achieved the top score of 5 for their drinking water, however many scores were acceptable.

"A score of 3.0 or better indicates that the airline has relatively safe, clean water," said Dr Platkin.

Of the major US airlines Allegiant and Alaska airlines came out on top by scoring 3.3, with Hawaiian airlines as a runner up on a score of 3.1.

Tied at the bottom of the major carriers were Spirit Airlines and Jet Blue who scored a shocking 1 out of 5 for the water sanitation scores. Jet Blue alone was found to make 354 ADWR violations between 2012 and 2019, with 144 samples testing positive for coliform bacteria and a further 9 samples containing e-coli bacteria.

The study's authors advised plane passengers to avoid drinking water that isn't sealed in a bottle and to use travel hand sanitiser instead of washing your hands in airplane bathrooms.

Jet Blue has been contacted regarding the results on its drinking water quality.