Originally Posted by
courcoison
In response to a couple of comments.
I have never paid for bottled water on board any airlines worldwide ever.
As it relates to a "law suit" I certainly never stated or indicated that I was planning such action.
The question remains though.
Are airline companies obligated to provide safe drinking water and are they doing so when they serve tap water from the restroom?
The limited but telling EPA 2004/2005 report would appear to indicate this is possibly an issue.
This being said the idea and the reason I asked my question here is not the be right or wrong but to entertain a positive discussion/debate.
After the free drink coupons ( mixed drink, beer, wine) is the next step the free drink coupon for potable water...
It is not yet the case at United Airlines and Southwest .
You cant completely go by the EPA report as the be all, end all with regards to airplane water. As has been stated a few times now, the airplane water is safe, its more a matter of taste and tolerance. Some may not mind the taste, some (most actually) probably can tolerate it with no problem, however there will be some that can't stand the taste nor can the drink it without getting sick. So even though there isnt any law that applies (the airlines don't even necessarily have to provide other things such as working lavs), the airline still by definition is serving you safe water, its just not necessarily tasty water. Also don't be too quick to use UA as an example as they are making quite a few changes right now to their onboard service. Some changes which are making them "cheaper" than US in terms of what they offer. It wouldn't surprise me if UA starts charging for drinks as well.