The unprecedented mass of travelers taking to the skies might have to contend with another hiccup in their flight experiences—exploding soda cans.
On Southwest Airlines, at least 20 flight attendants have been injured this summer by carbonated beverages that exploded when they tried to open them, a phenomenon the airline is attributing to record-breaking summer heat, according to the Washington Post.
Thus far, no reports of passengers being injured from the soda cans have emerged, the Post noted. While the airline has experienced similar incidents in the past, this summer has seen an increase, it added.
Southwest didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment but told the Post, “We are aware of the issue and have begun taking steps to attempt to mitigate it.”
Aside from exploding cans, many travelers are not enjoying their flying experiences. Complaints about air travel rose to nearly 100,000 in 2023, the highest level since the pandemic. And on Friday, a faulty software update from the cybersecurity company CrowdStrike caused mass outages for companies relying on the services, grounding flights across the globe.
As the airline's name would suggest, Southwest has a large presence in cities like Dallas, Phoenix, Houston, and Las Vegas, many of which have been experiencing record-breaking temperatures this summer caused by climate change. In Vegas, June 20 tied the hottest day Sin City has ever recorded, reaching 117 degrees. At Phoenix’s Sky Harbor Airport, 14 different days last month brought temperatures above 110 degrees.
Southwest may be more susceptible to the extreme heat than other carriers. Because it doesn’t serve perishable meals on flights, soda cans are transported in unrefrigerated trucks, which get quite hot when temperatures are reaching into the triple digits.
To address the issue, Southwest has come up with a number of safety measures to mitigate the risk of detonating soft drinks, according to CBS. Ground crews have been instructed to measure the temperature of trucks—and cans—before the beverages are loaded into planes, and flight attendants have been told not to open cans that appear physically deformed. The airline is also testing some refrigerated trucks in Las Vegas. In an internal email obtained by CBS, the company said "viable solutions to bursting hot cans is our top priority."
Southwest may be dealing with more serious issues than exploding soda cans. The budget airline recently cut its revenue outlook for the second quarter of this year, citing “complexities in adapting its revenue management to current booking patterns in this dynamic environment.”
David Neeleman, founder of Breeze airlines as well as several other carriers, said at Fortune’s Brainstorm Tech conference this week that Southwest’s struggles may be a result of consumers being more willing to spend big at its rivals.
“One of the reasons Southwest is kind of struggling today is that this kind of scramble for seats was cool back in the ‘70s and ‘80s and even the ‘90s, but today when Delta is so much better, when United is so much better, people don’t want to fight for a seat,” he said.
