New FAA Rules Around Clearing Plastic Cups Are Absurdly Stupid: Are Plastic Cups A Safety Hazard?

Earlier, I covered how Delta issued a memo to flight attendants, related to service changes before flights take off. Specifically, flight attendants will have to collect all service items, including pre-departure drinks, before the aircraft pushes back, rather than just before takeoff.

The airline claims that this is due to a policy change from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), but what’s actually changing? Well, we now have the details, as flagged by View from the Wing, and this just strikes me as being ridiculously dumb…

The FAA thinks plastic cups are a safety hazard on the ground

Federal Aviation Regulations (FARs) dictate the rules that airline crews in the United States have to follow. As it impacts service before takeoff, since 1992, federal regulations — specifically, FAR 121.577 (a) — have said the following:

No certificate holder may move an airplane on the surface, take off, or land when any food, beverage, or tableware furnished by the certificate holder is located at any passenger seat.

The thing is, there was no enforcement mechanism in place, and the rules also stated that collection would be required “with the exception of paper cups and plastic glasses.” In other words, disposable cups often used for pre-departure drinks could be kept until flight attendants had to prepare the cabin for takeoff.

Nearly 35 years later, the FAA has revised its guidance regarding this, as of May 27, 2026. With these updates, disposable cups are no longer treated differently than glassware. Specifically, the updated guidance states that “the FAA intends the rule to prohibit food and beverage service during movement on the surface,” and this also applies to “the pickup of paper cups and plastic glasses.”

The FAA acknowledges that while “food and beverage service provided by an airline is important to passengers,” such a service “does not take priority over safety considerations,” and that “during aircraft movement on the surface flight attendants should be alert to any safety problems and should not be distracted by conducting food and beverage service.”

The FAA goes on to state that “in an emergency evacuation, litter from food service of any kind (including coffee and rolls) can be hazardous due to poor footing.”

This is some baseless security theater from the FAA!

I’m all for the aviation industry erring on the side of caution, and adopting best practices based on data. However, I have a hard time wrapping my head around how a paper or plastic cup with a pre-departure drink isn’t safe, while a disposable cup with a coffee that a passenger brings onboard is safe.

I also find it kind of wild to suggest that a cup is going to cause a safety hazard in the event of an evacuation. Virtually every time we see a plane evacuated, people violate FAA regulations by bringing their carry-on bags with them, slowing down the evacuations, and putting the safety of themselves (and others) at risk. That’s a much bigger issue than a few plastic cups, and seemingly nothing has been done to address that.

But I guess with the current timeline of things, and enforcement mechanisms coming 34 years after rules are introduced, maybe it’s on the FAA’s agenda for 2060?

Let me say that I’d understand if the intent were just to get flight attendants to sit down in their jump seats earlier, given the potential risk of injury while a plane taxies. However, the rules prohibit passengers from even keeping plastic cups during takeoff, assuming they’re issued by the airline.

Bottom line

The FAA will start requiring flight crews to collect paper and plastic cups before an aircraft pushes back, rather than during taxi, as has previously been the case. Technically, FARs have stated that service items need to be collected before aircraft movement, but there was an explicit lack of enforcement for disposable cups.

That has now changed, with enforcement starting. The FAA claims that cups can be a safety hazard, especially in the event of an evacuation. But if you bring your own drink onboard a flight… that’s fine, apparently?

What do you make of this new FAA enforcement regarding service items?