milk run

American  

noun

Slang.

1. a routine trip or undertaking, especially one presenting little danger or difficulty.

   The flight from New York to Chicago was a milk run for the experienced pilot and crew.

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milk run British  

noun

1. informal aeronautics a routine and uneventful flight, esp on a dangerous mission

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Etymology

Origin of milk run

First recorded in 1940–45

Example Sentences

The milk run flight was delayed, then held on the tarmac with passengers on board for nearly an hour.

From Seattle Times • Jul. 9, 2021

Cause of death: Collapsed at the grocery store during a morning milk run.

From Washington Post • Aug. 2, 2017

John Adriaanse, 73, said a milk run to the local shop ended in a fall when he "misjudged the depth of a pothole".

From BBC • May 19, 2017

But restarting scheduled airline service after 55 years has been anything but a milk run for U.S. airlines.

From The Wall Street Journal • Sep. 7, 2016

Eighteen planes had let down through a beaming white cloud off the coast of Elba one afternoon on the way back from the weekly milk run to Parma; seventeen came out.

From "Catch-22" by Joseph Heller