Soda cans burst on Southwest flights due to extreme heat

Southwest Airlines says it's taking steps to keep its onboard beverages cooler. Charles Rex Arbogast/AP hide caption

Summer temperatures across the U.S. are so high that they’ve created problems at cruising altitude, causing some overheated beverages to burst midair on a number of Southwest Airlines flights.

Many of the airports where Southwest has a large presence — such as Phoenix, Las Vegas, Austin, Dallas, Houston and Sacramento — are located in cities that have already broken temperature records this year, as a result of heat waves fueled by climate change.

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Southwest confirmed to NPR that heat has warped some cans and caused others to burst upon opening, an issue it’s been communicating with employees about since the spring. But it stressed there haven’t been any reported incidents involving customers.

“We’re aware of the issue and have been taking steps to keep onboard beverages cooler, especially in our airports experiencing extreme temperatures,” spokesperson Chris Perry said in a statement.

Some 20 flight attendants have been injured by exploding cans this summer, including one who required stitches, according to CBS News. The union that represents Southwest flight attendants, TWU Local 556, has not responded to NPR’s request for comment.

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“For the Safety of our Employees and Customers, we are taking education and mitigation measures on all heat-related hazards,” Perry added.

The issue appears to be unique to Southwest, which handles in-flight beverages differently than other airlines.

It does its own provisioning and doesn’t handle perishables, since it does not serve meals during flights. The company is now testing out trucks with air-conditioned cargo areas in Phoenix and Las Vegas.

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It’s also telling airport teams to use digital thermometers to take the temperature of cans before loading up each plane, and to hold back any cans that read above 98 degrees Fahrenheit.