Study of Airline Water 2019

A 2019 Airline Water Study released today by DietDetective.com and the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center reveals that the quality of drinking water varies by airline, and many airlines have possibly provided passengers with unhealthy water.

Unhealthy water violates the federal government’s Aircraft Drinking Water Rule (ADWR), which was implemented in 2011 and requires airlines to provide passengers and flight crew with safe drinking water.

The 2019 Airline Water Study ranks 11 major and 12 regional airlines mainly by the quality of water they provided onboard its flights. Each airline was given a “Water Health Score” (5 = highest rating, 0 = lowest) based on 10 criteria, including fleet size, ADWR violations, positive E. coli and coliform water sample reports and cooperation in providing answers to water-quality questions. A score of 3.0 or better indicates that the airline has relatively safe, clean water.

“Alaska Airlines and Allegiant win the top spot with the safest water in the sky, and Hawaiian Airlines finishes No. 2,” says Charles Platkin, PhD, JD, MPH, the editor of DietDetective.com and the executive director of the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center.

The airlines with the worst scores are JetBlue and Spirit Airlines, the study shows. “Except for Piedmont Airlines, regional airlines need to improve their onboard water safety,” Platkin says.

The ADWR requires airlines to take samples from their water tanks to test for coliform bacteria and possible E. coli. Airlines are also required to disinfect and flush each aircraft’s water tank four times per year. Alternatively, an airline may choose to disinfect and flush once a year, but then it must test monthly. (See: Electronic Code of Federal Regulations).

The 2019 Airline Water Study also finds that the Environmental Protection Agency – one of the federal agencies responsible for ensuring safe aircraft drinking water- rarely levies civil penalties to airlines in violation of the ADWR.

Here are the study’s findings:

• The major airlines receiving the highest Airline Water Health Score are Allegiant and Alaska – each with a score of 3.3 on a 0-to-5 scale. Hawaiian Airlines is a close second at 3.1.
• Piedmont Airlines, which operates American Eagle flights, is the highest-rated regional carrier with a score of 4.33.
• Among major airlines, Spirit and JetBlue tied for the lowest score of 1 on a 0-to-5 scale.
• Nearly all regional airlines, except Piedmont, have poor Water Health Scores and a large number of ADWR violations. Republic Airways (which flies for United Express, Delta Connection and American Eagle) has the lowest score at 0.44 on a 0-to-5 scale and ExpressJet is second-lowest at 0.56. ExpressJet averages 3.36 ADWR violations per aircraft.
• The number of ADWR violations by all airlines in 2018 was significantly less than the number in 2012, the first year after the ADWR was enacted. For major airlines, violations have decreased 69% (262 to 81), while violations among regional airlines have decreased 71% (351 to 103). However, the decrease might reflect a lack of enforcement by the EPA, which has issued few penalties in recent years.
• The “Shame on You” Award goes to the EPA and nearly all major airlines (regional airlines weren’t contacted) for their very poor response time and lack of cooperation answering detailed questions. The EPA didn’t answer most penalty-related questions, and Spirit, Allegiant and Frontier did not respond to any questions. Very weak responses – and responses that didn’t address questions – were provided by American, United, and JetBlue, which had a large number of violations during the past seven years.
• Testing for coliform bacteria is important, because their presence in drinking water indicates that disease-causing organisms (pathogens) could be in the water system.
• When an aircraft’s water sample tests positive for coliform, it must be tested again to determine if E. coli is present. If E. coli is not present, the airline must take repeat samples within 24 hrs, disinfect and flush the water system within 72 hrs. Or the airline can shut down the water system within 72 hrs and then disinfect and flush. If the sample is E. coli positive, the airline must shut off public access to the water system within 24 hrs and disinfect and flush.
• The ADWR does not require the same testing as the National Primary Drinking Water Regulations, which includes other microorganisms in addition to total coliform. (See here).
• An aircraft flies to numerous destinations and may pump drinking water into its tanks from various sources at domestic and international locations. The water quality onboard also depends on the safety of the equipment used to transfer the water, such as water cabinets, trucks, carts and hoses.
• Here’s the bottom-line advice from DietDetective.com and the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center. To be extra safe:
  • NEVER drink any water onboard that isn’t in a sealed bottle,
  • Do not drink coffee or tea onboard,
  • Do not wash your hands in the bathroom; bring hand-sanitizer with you instead.

Airline Water Health Scores At-a-Glance (5 = highest rating, 0 = lowest):