You’ve probably never thought twice about ordering a coffee at 35,000 feet. Maybe you’ve cracked open a can of Diet Coke, tossed back a Bloody Mary to kick off your vacation, or unwrapped a tuna sandwich without a second thought. Honest truth? The cabin crew noticed. All of it. Flight attendants spend more time in the air than most people spend commuting, and they’ve developed very strong opinions about what passengers eat and drink onboard. Some of it’s about your health. Some of it is about their sanity.
The list of food and drink decisions that quietly horrify the people serving you is longer than you’d expect. It ranges from simple hygiene concerns backed by actual scientific studies, to etiquette issues that make a six-hour flight feel like a very long, very smelly punishment. Let’s dive in.
1. Coffee or Tea – The Hot Drinks Crew Members Almost Never Touch
Here’s the thing nobody wants to hear on a morning flight: that coffee is made with water from an onboard tank that may not have been cleaned in a very long time. Former flight attendant Alex Quigley explains that airplanes use “potable” water tanks, and the water often sits there for a long, long time. “There’s no telling how often or when the tank has been cleaned last,” he says. “This is a beast for bacteria.”
This isn’t just one person’s opinion. A comprehensive 2026 study by the Center for Food as Medicine and Longevity analyzed water samples across 21 airlines over a three-year period. The study tested 35,674 total sample locations for total coliform bacteria. Of these, 949 locations – roughly two and a half percent – tested positive. That’s not a tiny number when you think about how many flights depart every single day.
The Center advises travelers to “NEVER drink any water onboard that isn’t in a sealed bottle.” They also recommend skipping onboard coffee and tea entirely. According to flight attendant Whytney, who has worked with a major US airline for seven years, “most flight attendants won’t drink the tap water, coffee, or tea,” noting that the latter two options also tend to dehydrate passengers even further.
To make matters worse, the machine sits within an uncomfortably close distance to the toilet. “These little coffee guys, they are rarely cleaned unless they are broken,” revealed flight attendant Kat Kamalani. “The whole machine is never cleaned and they’re by the lavatories.” Still want that morning latte?
2. Diet Coke – The Order That Quietly Drives Flight Attendants Crazy
Ordering a Diet Coke seems completely harmless. It’s one of the most popular drinks in the sky. Except it’s also, quietly, the one order that makes cabin crew inwardly groan every single time. Diet Coke tends to foam excessively at altitude. Cabin pressure causes carbonation to behave differently, and Diet Coke is notorious for producing long-lasting foam when poured onboard.
Airplanes are pressurized not to sea level, but to the equivalent of about 7,000 feet. This change in pressure means carbonated beverages act differently – they’re foamier and bubblier than they would be on the ground. This makes them take longer to pour, with Diet Coke being the worst option.
One flight attendant wrote on her blog: “I literally have to sit and wait for the bubbles to fall before I can continue pouring. If all three passengers ask for Diet Coke I’ll often get them started, take another three drink orders, and then finish the Diet Cokes.” Flight crews have grown to despise serving Diet Coke mid-flight because it takes forever to fizz down. One flight attendant noted on Reddit, “I usually just give the passenger the whole can if they ask because I could have served three more passengers by the time the cup is full.”
It’s not rude to order one. Nobody is going to say anything. But if you’ve ever wondered why your Diet Coke takes so long to arrive, now you know. Maybe opt for a still water instead. Your flight attendant will quietly thank you.
3. The Bloody Mary – A Fan Favorite That’s Actually a Problem
The Bloody Mary has become practically a rite of passage for air travelers. It feels festive. It feels grown-up. It feels like the vacation has already started. The reality, though? Elizabeth Squillante, President of Springboard Travel, calls it “actually the worst drink you can order.” The high salt content, combined with the lack of movement, “makes for some very puffy legs at the end of a flight.”
Flight attendants have warned that drinks with high sodium content can contribute to bloating and swelling, especially on longer flights. Sitting for extended periods already causes fluid retention, and salty cocktails may make that discomfort worse. For travelers prone to puffy ankles or post-flight fatigue, it might be worth saving celebratory drinks for after landing.
One flight attendant, Heath, says you should never order tomato juice or Bloody Mary mix. “First of all, it stinks,” he says. “Second, it’s super messy if spilled. You simply cannot recover from a cup of tomato being spilled on your clothes!” That’s a fair point. Nobody wants to spend a transatlantic flight smelling like a cocktail gone wrong.
Interestingly, science does explain why people love tomato juice in the air. A 2016 study published in the Journal of Experimental Psychology found that the taste of tomato juice really shines while soaring through the air, due to the influence of sound on taste. Your taste buds aren’t lying to you. The Bloody Mary really does taste better up there. It’s just not worth the consequences.
4. Alcohol in General – One Drink Hits Like Two
Let’s be real. Plenty of people use a flight as an opportunity to relax and have a drink or three. Nothing wrong with that, in theory. In practice, though, the altitude is working against you in a big way. The combination of high altitude and alcohol can make you feel light-headed and cause you to feel more drunk than you would on the ground. When pressure is decreased in the airplane, the body can’t absorb oxygen as well.
It’s not that your blood alcohol level is technically higher on the plane, but rather that the decreased oxygen in the cabin may result in you feeling the impacts of a drink sooner. Consuming alcohol can also add to the dehydration that comes from flying, and if you’re hoping to arrive ready to sightsee or work, that’s going to be much harder if you’re hungover and parched.
Travel expert Rana Good puts it plainly: “Keep in mind that one drink in the air is the same as two drinks on the ground. A lot of people get extremely drunk on airplanes not knowing this phenomenon and make the flight very uncomfortable for themselves and others. Stick to one or two cocktails max.” It doesn’t matter if you’re in economy or first class – if you’ve had too much to drink, flight attendants can and will cut you off. That’s a rule, not a suggestion.
5. Fish Dishes – The Smell That Lingers for Hours
Ordering the fish on a plane sounds sophisticated. Maybe even adventurous. But I think most seasoned travelers have silently regretted this decision the moment the lid comes off that tray. In-flight meals are reheated rather than freshly cooked, and fish doesn’t always fare well in that process. Several flight attendants said fish dishes are among the least forgiving when it comes to texture and smell. Since meals are typically heated using steam or convection methods, proteins that rely on precise cooking temperatures can easily dry out or become unpleasant.
There is also a higher risk of spoilage or foodborne illness from eating fish on a plane, a former flight attendant told Fox News Digital. Think about the logistics: the fish was cooked somewhere on the ground, loaded onto a cart, stored, and then reheated in a cabin oven. The margin for error is real. Meats in general are a riskier choice in the air. Chicken can be particularly tricky. “It’s tough to tell if chicken is bad just from looking at it,” according to food policy expert Darin Detwiler, adding that sauces and flavoring can easily mask any off smells or tastes.
Eggs immediately expel a sulfur-like odor, and tuna’s intense fishy smell lingers in a way that is truly inescapable. Sauteed onions and fried fast food are also noxious in a confined space. The cabin has no open windows and very little airflow that you control. When something smells at 35,000 feet, everyone in your row knows it immediately. As former flight attendant and etiquette expert Jacqueline Whitmore puts it, “At 35,000 feet, your body, your taste buds and even your digestive system behave differently. Not to mention, smells tend to travel, too.”
6. Meat Dishes – More Risk Than You Realize
Steak on a plane sounds luxurious. In certain business class cabins, it genuinely can be. Mostly, though, ordering meat dishes on a flight comes with risks that go beyond just culinary disappointment. Former flight attendant Alex Quigley suggests avoiding any meat dish. “You’re putting the trust of storing any meat in the flight attendant’s hands, and as we all know, delays happen, and mechanical issues happen; so if you run into a situation where there’s a possibility the cooked meals aren’t actually being stored appropriately or have exceeded the storing time allotted for the meal,” you can be in for trouble.
Some flight attendants stay away from eating steaks and fillets while on the job because of how they’re prepared – they’re almost always overcooked. “The ovens are only so big, and there is only so much food that can fit in it,” said a Delta Air Lines flight attendant. “If you are particular about how your steak should be prepared, don’t eat it.”
Airline food is precooked and then reheated, so a “well-done” steak is essentially being cooked twice. The result? Something that has the texture of a shoe sole. For a more palatable experience, just take it as it comes – usually medium-rare to medium. Think of it like this: ordering a precise steak on a plane is like asking someone to paint a masterpiece with a crayon. The intention is there. The execution, rarely.
7. Eggs – A Smell That Fills the Cabin Fast
Hard-boiled eggs went viral in late 2025 for all the wrong reasons. A TikTok video posted by user @jordan_hel documented a sulphurous in-flight faux pas happening right beside her: a couple peeling and eating a mountain of hard-boiled eggs on a long-haul flight. The video sparked a massive response, and honestly, the reaction makes complete sense to anyone who’s ever sat near someone doing exactly that.
Christina Ling, a flight attendant instructor and founder of the Flight Attendant Institute, explains these social rules exist for more than just the meal – the food in your body contributes to the overall air quality, too. “Flights really put pressure on your stomach, your diaphragm, and you get very flatulent to begin with,” she says. “When you are eating those foods you produce even more flatulence to what the cabin pressure is putting on your body. And, of course, people are going to release it.”
Dishes made with eggs, like omelets or egg salad, are best avoided in-flight. “Even when prepared fresh, they tend to give off a strong scent once reheated, which can quickly fill a confined cabin space.” The smell “lingers and can make nearby passengers feel nauseated.” There’s also a food-safety factor to consider. After they’re cooked, eggs still need to be kept at a safe temperature to avoid the growth of bacteria. Warm, pressurized cabin air is not exactly a refrigerator.
8. Smelly Snacks – Corn Nuts, Barbecue Chips, and Anything Pungent
While you might think you’re following the rules of proper passenger etiquette, some flight attendants say there is one aspect that most of us overlook – and it all comes down to what we eat and drink. Nowhere is this more true than with strongly scented snacks. Flight attendants specifically call out corn nuts, even though they are sometimes served in flight. “They are pretty tasty, but some of them stink the second you open the package,” an anonymous flight attendant told Delish.
The roasted barbecue flavor is the worst. “When you open the bag, it smells like something is burning on the plane.” Onion, garlic, barbecue and pickled onion flavored snacks could also kick up a lingering stink. Think about what the inside of that plane smells like during boarding, before any food is opened. Then imagine adding a cloud of barbecue corn nut vapor to that sealed, recycled-air environment. It’s not a pleasant thought.
Strong-smelling foods fall into their own problematic category, and the list includes canned tuna or salmon, hard-boiled eggs, and garlic or onion-flavored snacks. Even if these items are nutritious, their persistent odors can fill a confined cabin quickly and make you the least popular person in your row. Curry, raw onions, fried food, jerky, kimchi, fish sauce, and fish and chips were also mentioned as no-no’s. “Honestly anything that smells, either good or bad,” is a no-go, summarized one flight attendant, adding, “Flying is probably the one and only time I would recommend bland food, if only to help your guts under pressure.”
Airline cabin pressure is typically maintained at the equivalent of altitudes between 6,000 and 8,000 feet, which means reduced oxygen levels and lower air pressure can subtly affect taste perception, digestion, and circulation. Foods that seem harmless on the ground can have a noticeably stronger impact at cruising altitude. Airplane cabins are also extremely low in humidity, with air drier than most deserts, which already contributes to dehydration and makes the effects of salty foods even more pronounced.
Next time you’re reaching for a snack bag on a long-haul flight, it’s worth pausing for half a second. The person sitting twelve inches away from you in seat 24B didn’t sign up to share your garlic jerky experience. Neither did the flight attendant who will be politely smiling at you for the next eight hours. What’s the most questionable thing you’ve ever eaten on a flight? Tell us in the comments.
