United Airlines Brings Back Tomato Juice After Twitter Outrage
One of the best parts of any flight is that magical moment when the trolley, loaded up with pretzels and drinks, makes its way slowly down the narrow aisles. But United Airlines customers got one heck of a shock recently when they tried to order one drink in particular. Those asking for tomato juice were met with a resounding no last week when United removed it completely from their list of complimentary in-flight drinks on domestic flights.
Upon learning that tomato juice was no longer available as part of a "streamlining" of services on flights less than four hours long, fliers took to Twitter to voice their anger and disappointment. Though Bloody Mary mix was still an option, people were still totally up in arms.
No Tomato Juice on a plane??????!!!!! What are you doing United Airlines???? Everyone knows tomato juice is so much better in the air!!!! @united pic.twitter.com/J4YN6C0nmi
— Jaime Pulfer (@Pulfer680News) May 10, 2018
Deeply saddened by the @united decision to drop tomato juice from their beverage offerings. It was the healthiest drink on the cart!
— Debra Sanborn (@DebraSanborn) May 8, 2018
@united There's a big difference between Mrs. T's mix and tomato juice. If you must economize, eliminating something that isn't healthy would make more sense. More importantly, you would be keeping your tomato juice fans happy on flights.
— Eleanor Rogers (@EleanorRogers4) May 8, 2018
Customers voiced their grievances so loudly that just one week after removing tomato juice from menus, United announced that it would be bringing it back — phew! — with a Tweet that read: "You say tomato. We say, we hear you. Tomato juice is here to stay. #letscallthewholethingoff"
You say tomato. We say, we hear you. Tomato juice is here to stay. #letscallthewholethingoff https://t.co/R6QskrYE8i
— United Airlines (@united) May 10, 2018
The Daily Meal reached out to United for comment, and a spokesperson directed us to their official statement on the matter:
"We want our customers to know that we value and appreciate them and are listening. Our customers told us that they were not happy about the removal of tomato juice so we're bringing it back onboard as part of our complimentary beverage offering."
One fascinating tidbit that this kerfuffle has brought to light is that many of the disgruntled fliers admitted that they only drink tomato juice when flying. This surprising fact actually makes a lot of sense once you understand a bit of the science behind it. Studies have found that a change in air pressure affects taste quite significantly, so tomato juice actually tastes better at a higher altitude.
United Airlines is removing tomato juice from its on-board menu and many flyers are angry. Turns out that its more popular in the air than on the ground. More tomato juice is served in-flight than beer. Changes in air pressure making sweet and salty tomato juice taste better. pic.twitter.com/xRrMX7Qsoq
— Richard Southern (@richard680news) May 10, 2018
At 30,000 feet, one's ability to pick up on sweet and salty flavors changes noticeably, so a greater appreciation of tomato juice is just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to crazy facts about airplane food.