Delta flight attendants are being told that theyll shortly have to prepare the aircraft cabin for takeoff earlier than in the past, and that specifically impacts collecting service items. While the airline claims this is an FAA-driven change that applies across the industry, Im not sure anything is actually changing, other than perhaps an increase in enforcement.
OMG! Please don’t let this be true!! Now I have to chug my cup of boxed wine faster than normal!
This is just an excuse not to provide pre-departure beverages.
They used to be served on every flight, regional or mainline, in domestic first before the pandemic. Once restored after the pandemic, the service of pre-departure drinks have declined to about 50/50.
The reason for why now, as I write in my post on this, is that the 1992 rule established no compliance schedule for paper cups and plastic glasses. The FAA updated this May 27, 2026 to say that the rule did address “pickup of paper cups and plastic glasses prior to movement” and that “[a]ll galley items should be picked up and properly stowed prior to movement on the surface.”
Gary, is this the same FAA with the guy who accepted sponsorships (for a self-promoting ‘travel show’) from the very companies he’s supposed to be regulating? Phew! I trust that his heart and mind is in the right place at least. (Why even bother serving PDBs; cut costs by an extra percent, increase profits by 51%, give Ed an extra $1 million bonus. Brilliant!) /s
I would like to see proof that PDBs are a threat to safety and, as someone else said on another site, the Yetis that some people seated in Y bring on board that look like artillery shells aren't.
It's from 1992.
It just took incompetent obsolete dinosaur at FAA to enforce this, if they even do.
It took them 34 years to enforce, make it'll take them 30 years to penalize airlines.
So expect Delta to pay $1000 fine around 2060.
I think you meant to say "industry watchdog" JonNYC.
Might be tacky, but just bring your own disposable cup or cup and switch it. It says “ all Delta provided disposable and non-disposable serviceware”. And liquids and ice aren’t considered serviceware.
This seems silly, and no doubt will be start of crews abusing this to avoid doing pre-departure drinks and stay and chat in the galley pre take-off.