Originally Posted by
Aviatrix
I don't often walk around airports carrying hot drinks in take-away cups... but I've seen plenty of other people do it, and I'm sure I've seen people take them onto aircraft.
Last night I bought a coffee on my way to the gate at STN, and I had only drunk half of it when we started boarding. It was on one of those cups that you can drink out of without taking the lid off.
Nobody said anything at the gate... but when I got to the aircraft door the FA stopped me and told me it was illegal to bring hot drinks onto aircraft!
"Since when?" I said
"Always" he replied.
He then told me that he would, exceptionally, allow me to keep my drink but that I had to finish it before take-off, "for safety reasons".
Is there really a law against bringing one's own hot drinks onto aircraft - or is this just an airline regulation designed to make people buy drinks in flight?
Has anyone else come across this?
Regardless of the law, one can se some common sense consideration to determine if one should or should not carry a opened beverage of any kind (in hand) when boarding.
1. If a beverage is no served in the class of cabin you are travelling in prior to take off, you should not bring an open beverage (even with a top on). Bringing one onboard requires the crew to collect the cups of finished or unfinished beverage. It poses a hazard during the take of. Extra work for the crew and, possibly, extra load for the aircraft.
2. Carry a hot beverage in hand while boarding poses a danger to those already seated. I had one passenger, accidentally of course, spill hot coffee on me as she walked past me.
We don't live in vaccum. We should think about our fellow passengers too when we are travelling. There are things we cannot help but let slip through.
Bringing a beverage on board is something we can control.