Friday, 3 April, 2026
The Drinks Business, Sarah Neish
According to the View from the Wing blog, founded by aviation enthusiast Gary Leff and billed as “a thought leader in travel”, a customer on an American Airlines flight was last week served a blend of Chardonnay and fizzy water, having ordered a glass of sparkling wine.
The incident was brought to Leff’s attention by a View from the Wing reader who travelled on American Airlines flight 3394 from Miami to Greenville-Spartanburg airport in South Carolina on Saturday 28 March.
“She asked for sparkling wine, they didn’t have any, and so the flight attendant faked it giving her a mix of Chardonnay and sparking water instead – telling her this was airline policy,” the blog post reads.
The original communication from the flier said: “I had two glasses [of sparkling wine] and then I asked for the third one and the flight attendant brought something that tasted bad. It tasted terrible and she leaned over to me and she said they are told if they’re out of Champagne to mix… Chardonnay and sparkling water”.
Click HERE to read the full article.