It Seems To Me

Thoughts and Rants on Technology, Business and Politics

flew from Heathrow to San Francisco yesterday. As with every other trans-Atlantic flight that I have flown on United Airlines, the flight attendants came through the cabin about 70 minutes into the flight with hot towels.

This is a 10 hour flight! Why don't they bring the the hot towel 70 minutes before we land rather than an hour after we take off? After nine hours in the cramped, dry, cabin I would relish a hot towel to clean my tired face. Instead, they bring the towels at the beginning of the flight when I am still fresh and awake.

I have submitted suggestions to United Airlines on the timing of their hot towels, but to no avail. I am left to conclude that there must be some kind of reasoning to their logic. It remains for me to figure it out. Could it be that:

1. There is no way to warm the towels on the plane? Perhaps the hot towels are delivered to the airplane prior to takeoff and if they waited until an hour before landing the towels would be cold.
2. The purpose of the towel is not to wipe your face but rather to disinfect the seatback tray table? They distribute the towels as soon as the plane has reached it's cruising altitude and it is safe to lower the table for cleaning.
3. There is a typo in the In-Flight procedure manual. Where it is supposed to say "Distribute hot toddies to passengers one hour after take-off" it incorrectly says hot towels.
4. There is some legitimate reason for handing out towels at the beginning of the flight, the essence of which escapes me?

At this point I am assuming that the answer is 'b.'