Why You Shouldn’t Order Coffee or Tea on an Airplane

Regardless of where you’re traveling from or where you’re flying to, the best part of being on a plane is when the flight attendants start handing out snacks and drinks. Would I like a bag of pretzels? Yes, I would. Do I want a second package of cookies? Of course, I do. 

As enjoyable as it is to crack into a tiny bottle of in-flight bourbon — or even a can of Sprite Zero — one former flight attendant is warning passengers off ordering two common beverages. TikTok influencer Kat Kamalani, who says she worked for six years “with one of the biggest airlines that you could possibly imagine” strongly recommends avoiding any drink that isn’t served “in a can or a bottle.” 

In an older TikTok that’s making its way around the internet for a second time, Kamalani says that coffee, tea, and any other drinks that require hot water are no-gos. “The reason being is that those water tanks [on the aircraft] are never cleaned and they are disgusting,” she alleges, adding that flight attendants “rarely, rarely” drink coffee or tea during their shifts. 

Kamalani also alleges that the coffee makers on the plane are “rarely cleaned unless they are broken” and, in case you didn’t feel queasy already, she delivers an even grosser closing argument, adding that the coffee is made “by the lavatories.” (You can guess what she’s suggesting — or you can choose to skip right ahead to the next paragraph without thinking too hard about it.) 

Beyond all that, according to a 2019 airline water study by CUNY’s Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center that ranked 12 regional and 11 major airlines, airplane water tanks — which are typically situated beside or near the bathroom — are the very same source of water as the bathrooms.

So, is Kamalani right? On a thread on the r/Delta subreddit, a passenger asked the same question about the safety of in-flight coffee and the majority of responses suggested that it wasn’t really anything to worry about. 

“I’m an airline mechanic and can say that the potable water system does get cleaned — we basically fill it with diluted bleach and let it sit for several hours before purging the whole system a few times,” one Redditor wrote. “Coffee machines don’t seem to have a long lifespan considering how often we swap them out […] I wouldn’t worry too much. As someone else pointed out, if the pilots are drinking it every day you should be alright.” 

Another user, who said they were an Airframe and Powerplant (A&P) mechanic, added that although the water lines were “difficult to clean,” they were still frequently flushed with cleaning products. “Plus, the water is moved through them so frequently I wouldn’t count on much if any buildup,” they wrote. “I’d vouch for it and I drink it myself.” 

But according to one aviation insider, the only time passengers really have to worry about the drinkability of the water onboard is if the flight is departing from a country where the water — from any source — is less drinkable. On top of that, the water in every cup of coffee is heated. 

“​​For the science-minded folks, bacteria is killed about 175 degrees, it doesn’t have to boil,” Vance Hilderman, currently the CEO of aviation development company AFuzion, told USA Today. “On the airplane, water boils at the 7,000-foot equivalent of about 195 degrees […] If we look at the World Health Organization, bacteria is killed at 170, so all that coffee and tea is good.”

So it sounds like it’s up to you whether you’d really like to have a cup of joe at 30,000 feet. And, if you still can’t bring yourself to order one, we’re guessing there’s probably going to be a Starbucks or two at that arrival airport.