Southwest Airlines is suspending traditional drink service on its flights to limit interactions between flight attendants and passengers during the coronavirus crisis.
The new policy takes effect March 18 and is designed for the safety of customers and employees, Southwest spokesman Brian Parrish said.
On most flights, Southwest, the nation's largest domestic carrier, will offer only unopened cans of water to passengers requesting a drink. Southwest will still serve pretzels and, on longer flights, other packaged snacks.On short hops — dozens of Southwest flights under 250 miles including Atlanta-Nashville, Dallas-Houston and Los Angeles-Las Vegas — the airline won't serve any drinks or snacks so the crew can focus on other aspects of in-flight hygiene.
Travelers can still bring their own water and soft drinks as long as they purchase them or fill up at water stations post-security, of course. Southwest initially only planned to makes change on the short flights, according to a memo sent to flight attendants Monday and obtained by USA TODAY. "Out of an abundance of caution we have chosen to limit your touchpoints with customers on these very short flights allowing you more time to focus on good hand hygiene and any added trash service for the disposal of used cleaning wipes, tissues and other disposable items,'' Sonya Lacore, Southwest's vice president of in-flight operations, said in the memo.All major U.S.
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