If you didn’t have enough good reasons to dread flying, a former airline industry employee wrote about a few more for Refinery29.
Prepare for feelings of turbulence!
You know how happy you get when flight attendants make their way up the aisle with food and beverage carts? It’s actually time for trepidation instead.
For starters, according to industry insider Allison Hope, water used for drinking on commercial airplanes comes out of tanks that are tricky to sterilize. So the risk of your consuming bacteria or other germs is nauseatingly high. Two solutions: Stick to bottled water and canned drinks, or splurge on a cup of Starbucks before boarding.
The food tends to be no better. According to the former airline employee, the usual supplier is LSG Sky Chefs, a company that is no stranger to health violations.
If you don’t brown-bag it — or snag a bite to eat in the terminal — make sure that all edibles purchased on airplanes are pre-prepared and pre-wrapped.
If you do wind up eating food while in flight, give some consideration regarding where you put it. Unsavory passengers have been known to use seat-back trays for things other than dining.
Parents who are too lazy to take their babies to the restroom for diapering often use the seat-back tray as a stand-in changing station. And airline workers are more lax about cleaning the trays between flights than you would hope. Bring anti-bacterial wipes and be sure to perform a thorough scrub-down before setting any edibles — uh, make that anything at all — on the tray.
Happy travels!