Scorching temperatures on the ground this summer (and for every summer hereafter) are causing soda cans to explode on Southwest Airlines planes, injuring at least 20 flight attendants. The cans are baking in the sun while waiting on the tarmac to be loaded, then blowing up when the cabin crew attempts to open the soda. Thankfully, no passengers have been injured. Southwest is taking steps to mitigate the maiming of its own employees.
Southwest doesn’t serve meals or offer perishable food to passengers, so the low-cost airline doesn’t use refrigerated catering trucks. The recent heat waves across the country, caused by climate change, are making the cans so hot they are warping inside the trucks. Southwest spokesperson Chris Perry told the Washington Post:
“Airports where we have a large presence — such as Las Vegas, Phoenix and many in Texas — continue to receive record temperatures, with severe heat arriving earlier and persisting throughout the summer. For the safety of our employees and customers, we are taking education and mitigation measures on all heat-related hazards.”
With triple-digit temperatures not uncommon in Las Vegas, Southwest is testing the use of air-conditioned trucks at Harry Reid International Airport. At other airports, the carrier is directing ground crews to measure the temperature of soda cans before packing them on an aircraft. Also, flight attendants won’t be expected to open warped cans anymore.
Working conditions for flight attendants were already rough. They were already dealing with extreme heat inside planes on the ground. Turbulence is getting so severe from increased temperatures that a Turkish Airlines flight attendant broke her back. American Airlines is paying flight attendants so little that they can’t afford food or shelter. This isn’t a job where someone should be risking life and limb to open a Coke.