It may be five o’clock somewhere, but not on your next flight, thanks to the COVID-19 pandemic as on most flights, alcohol is now gone.
With face masks mandatory on all flights, limiting alcohol helps minimize the time these coverings are taken off.
Research reveals that COVID-19 can spread on surfaces, and as a result, airlines have reduced as many touchpoints as possible and are trying to limit interactions with flight attendants.
Here is a list of how U.S.-based airlines are handling your cocktails.
Delta has removed all beverages from its flights for now except for single-serve bottles of water. No alcohol, plastic cups, or ice are available at this time.
American Airlines is offering water, canned drinks and juice by request only. No snacks, alcoholic beverages, or food is available in the main cabin.
JetBlue has temporarily replaced its snack baskets and beverage service with a pre-sealed snack and beverage bag.
Southwest Airlines has also suspended its drink service and will only be offering unopened cans of water with straws and sealed packages of snack mix.
Cheers to United, an airline that is still serving alcoholic beverages, but only in sealed containers. It is no longer serving ice, coffee, tea, or poured alcohol. Individual water bottles will be available.
This ban isn’t just being implemented by U.S. airlines. Virgin Atlantic, Virgin Australia, Easyjet and KLM have also stopped serving alcoholic beverages due to the pandemic.
This story originally ran in sister publication, Recommend.