24left

https://viewfromthewing.com/the-onbo...le-coffee-cup/

ps107

Do flight attendants wash their hands before every tea/coffee service? Or the food cart handles? Does the cup get plonked on the tray table? What do you get on your hands unlatching the tray table?

The whole concept seems slightly inherently unhygienic...unless they wrap them in plastic!

I also note the cups sell for ~$4 each so definitely a publicity stunt rather than a "trial" of a practical solution to reducing single-use cups.

kiwifrequentflyer

They probably just use gloves, it's no less hygienic than a bread roll being put on a plate with tongs. You can probably just ask for a paper towel or, if you are like me, you hold it and drink it immediately anyway.

SeaProf

As someone with Coeliac disease, this seems disastrous. I wouldn't be able to use the cup at all and it dramatically increases the chances of cross-contamination, which I have to worry about. Based on the picture associated with the article, my days of being able to drink tea on board would be over. I need a traditional cup that hasn't had gluten-based crumbs fall into it. If I can't be sure it's safe, I can't drink it.

Rebound

its a trial... i m sure regular cups will be available too

SeaProf

Yes, I presume so. But as I said, based on the pic it dramatically increases the chances of crumbs cross-contaminating my cup. Even the possibility of crumbs reduces my chances of being able to drink out of a traditional cup. If you don't have Coeliac it's hard to appreciate how even small crumbs and cross-contamination can make you seriously ill. I simply can't take chances with such things.

kiwifrequentflyer

Whenever I see someone with a rare disease like this saying things like this, I do have to point out: they literally can't cater to everybody, with all allergies. They will have normal cups onboard for people that don't want this, or who are gluten intolerant, but most gluten intolerance is not a serious allergy that is kicked off with cross contamination. If someone has a serious allergy that can be easily kicked off by simple cross-contamination, the onus is really on them to be vigilant, because there are many, MANY allergies out there & public food & drink can literally not appeal to them all.

wayoutwest

If the coffee cup is good to eat, will they now work on the meals and make them edible?

SeaProf

It's not actually that rare - it's estimated about 1 in 100 have it (compared with roughly 1 in 200 adults for peanut allergies in the US). And yes, vigilance is always required, but there are some things airlines can do not to exacerbate the situation, just as there are precautions I can take. For example, one thing I could do is always take a window seat so that these cups are not being passed over me to someone else.

cavemanzk

Does Cookie Time make an eatable cup? If so they have just reduced the domestic offering, into an all in one offering.

Beano

And the corn chips would form a cup for hot soup :-)

NZ_Flyer

I imagine they’ve worked out the cost of providing this cup and no longer having to provide singe use hot cups or any snack (I’m pretty confident NZ will say the cup is now the snack as well as the hot drink vessel). Just these and reusable water cups would streamline things a lot more from a logistics point of view.

kiwifrequentflyer

The difference with the peanut allergy is that while it's rare in the population, within the world of allergies, its one of the more "common" deadly allergies. And so even if cross contamination was unlikely ("just don't take the peanut bag") considering how bad the consequences could be, it's not worth the risk. They are not even comparable for this example.

I am sure there is a small chance that someone's cup will get crumbs in it, but the vast vast vast majority of the time an Air NZ staff members pours a cup of coffee into a normal cup, there will be no crumbs. Considering how unlikely that is, taking away a fun, nice, environmentally friendly option for 99% of people just because at some point, someone will get a crumb in someone's cup and they may be the 1% of the population with a gluten intolerance, does not feel like a reasonable reaction.

jeffrocowboy

all this excitement over crappy instant coffee? The only time I drink coffee on AirNZ is after a long flight - when I am desperate for caffeine

RTWFF

A friend and I both laughed out loud on getting to the end of the story - it's not pandering to vegetarians, vegans or those with food allergies. Good on them