Eliminating alcohol from airports and/or planes

[Buzz Rules]

Well I don’t drink on flights so it doesn’t affect me but I think less alcohol in general leads to less problems period. Maybe non alcoholic beer and wine is the best outcome? Thoughts?

 

[dvcgirl67]

It seems like alcohol isn't a factor (or at least isn't reported as a factor) in most of the incidents that have been happening on planes, so I'm not sure what good it will do. I personally don't really care one way or the other but I think in general alcohol is too profitable for the idea of discontinuing sales to get any real traction unless there's clear evidence of a link, and right now, I'm not sure there is. It seems like a big chunk of the general public has lost their collective minds over the past year, drink or sober, and I'm not sure there is an easy fix for these incidents of what essentially boils down to bullying by entitled adults who have been convinced that inconvenience is the same thing as oppression.

I totally agree. We have no definitive trip plans right now...and after seeing some of the latest incidents online, I'm not so sure I want to be flying until things get back to a little more normal. People are just really on edge. The one I saw recently was the Southwest Flight from Sacramento to San Diego....with the woman who sucker punched a flight attendant in the face. I'm not sure if the woman was drunk, but she looked like she may have been. But....the flight from Sacramento to San Diego is 1.5 hours, and you're not getting a drink in coach in the back of the plane where she was seated...until maybe 30 minutes into the flight. If she was drunk...she got drunk in the airport before she boarded.

We only have a drink if it's a longer flight....like if we're heading to Europe on an evening flight...and you have dinner and a glass of wine...and maybe a second glass while watching a movie before trying to sleep. I will say this, I'd definitely miss having some wine if we were flying in the front of the plane...for sure. For us, it is a part of the experience to be pampered a bit if we're up there. I wouldn't turn down an upgrade to business...ever, but I wouldn't pay for a ticket up there if I wasn't getting full service.

I will say this though, it's not necessarily alcohol that causes all of the issues. We were on a flight from Newark to Paris several years back and a woman across the aisle from us started kicking the seat in front of her. The guy reclined his seat, after the meal, which is acceptable. And it was economy plus, so there was a bit more room. She was definitely off for sure. She started gently kind of thumping her knee into the seat, when the guy and his wife turned to talk to her she pretended she was sleeping....and then full on started kicked the seat. When you're at 37,000 feet and two parties are screaming at each other...right in each other's faces, it's very unsettling. My husband was on the aisle seat and was thisclose to standing up to try and intervene. The flight attendant finally arrived and talked to the woman. She left and the woman started it again, and then another man did get up and stood right next to the woman and told her she's be arrested if she continued that behavior. We found out later he was an Air Marshall. The flight attendant finally moved her to a seat near that air Marshall....and he kept an eye on her for the rest of the flight.

 

[bcla]

The big one with issues is Spirit.

I've heard that, but the one time I flew on Spirit it went flawlessly. Nobody fighting over carry-on or bin space because there might have been a dozen passengers on the entire plane with a standard size carry-on, and if it didn't have a tag showing it was paid for, it didn't go into the bin. We boarded extremely quickly and left the gate early. We also paid $10 extra per passenger for the Big Front Seat. Also nobody fighting over the seat recline.

 

[JimMIA]

I'm another one who has never seen an obnoxious drunk on a flight -- maybe because I prefer morning flights.

But I have seen many jerks acting like spoiled children with flight attendants...and especially toward gate agents.

 

[usnuzuloose]

Fine by me.

 

[PlainJane]

My husband isn’t a big drinker. He could go months between drinks (where he almost always has one beer), but he hates flying and always orders a rum and coke to make it a slightly less miserable experience. So, he’d be pretty bummed.

I can understand not serving on the plane. Not allowing it in the airport would be pretty rough for the restaurants and would add just one more thing to list of why airports are lame. I’ve never actually had a drink in an airport, for the record.

Don’t let drunk people on planes, seems pretty straightforward. Gotta say, someone who would get trashed on a plane and risk getting banned from air travel for life is probably gonna make trouble regardless.

 

[mrodgers]

Nah United also has its issues (remember the people who were dragged off the plane), Delta too.

She said "passengers attacking others" not the airline attacking passengers

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

She said "passengers attacking others" not the airline attacking passengers

Uh yeah unruly passengers have gotten in fights, verbal abused, and just been jerks with other passengers on other airlines. People can be jerks no matter who they fly unfortunately and SWA isn't the scapegoat here.

 

[mrodgers]

Uh yeah unruly passengers have gotten in fights, verbal abused, and just been jerks with other passengers on other airlines. People can be jerks no matter who they fly unfortunately.

Joke, but understandable with this board. United was the airline violently dragging people off. That's different than passengers fighting.

 

[Mackenzie Click-Mickelson]

Joke, but understandable with this board. United was the airline violently dragging people off. That's different than passengers fighting.

I understood the joke (with the emoji) but my point was still the same. Don't latch onto the United part as if the bigger point isn't there. Bad passengers exist all over. I'm sure if we actually cared enough about the issue we could find news stories and youtube videos of issues with various airlines. I know some of the threads over the years have been doozies sometimes in what they describe from people.

 

[mikemasco]

Totally disagree with the ban of alcohol. I'm not a big drinker, however, I do enjoy a cocktail or two when I fly. Why as law abiding American do we want to continue to limit our freedoms? We should severely punish the limited few that make fools of themselves in airports or on airplanes. The purposes of these punishments are to stop these fools from continuing to impede on our rights and privileges.

 

[EACarlson]

The one I saw recently was the Southwest Flight from Sacramento to San Diego....with the woman who sucker punched a flight attendant in the face. I'm not sure if the woman was drunk, but she looked like she may have been. But....the flight from Sacramento to San Diego is 1.5 hours, and you're not getting a drink in coach in the back of the plane where she was seated...until maybe 30 minutes into the flight. If she was drunk...she got drunk in the airport before she boarded.

If she was that drunk she shouldn't have been allowed boarding. There is no alcohol on Southwest planes right now. and on a flight that short there may not have been any service at all.

 

[dvcgirl67]

If she was that drunk she shouldn't have been allowed boarding. There is no alcohol on Southwest planes right now. and on a flight that short there may not have been any service at all.

Good point....maybe she was just off or something. I didn't see what the fight was even about. I saw the small clip where she swung and hit the flight attendant in the face....she took off her mask and had blood on her face. I believe she lost two teeth in the ordeal. A male passenger intervened and stood in between the woman and the flight attendant. I did read that she was banned for life from SW.....and wonder if that's the way to go, have the FAA get involved and ban people for life, or at least for a considerable amount of time from being allowed to be passengers on aircraft.

 

[DisLiss]

I don't drink when flying myself, but I don't care if others do or do not. I think plenty of people are rude and unruly these days without a drop of alcohol in their systems.

 

[EACarlson]

I did read that she was banned for life from SW.....and wonder if that's the way to go, have the FAA get involved and ban people for life, or at least for a considerable amount of time from being allowed to be passengers on aircraft.

I would certainly think that she will end up on the federal no-fly for this, of course that is probably a secondary consideration to how much times she should be spending in federal prison. She has demonstrated that she is a danger to flight crew, the theoretical reason the no fly exists.

 

[White Cat]

I would like to see a ban happen.

 

[design_mom]

It wouldn't bother me. I don't think I've ever had a drink on an airplane OR in an airport. I think it's POSSIBLE that it could happen in flight if the airlines decide it's more nuisance than it's worth (but unless they ALL agree to it, they'd likely face losing customers to another airline). However, I don't think they will get it out of the airports.

I've been on several flights with loud, obnoxious passengers, but only one where things got physical. It was between passengers and it was pretty bad (police met the plane). I was sitting behind one of the passengers involved and diagonally across the aisle from the other. I do not think they knew each other before the flight, but both had already been drinking when they got on the plane.

 

[_19disnA]

I don't see how this somehow limits our freedoms if airlines decide to stop serving alcohol. It is a safety issue when unruly passengers get into a brawl at 30,000 feet in the air. No one can predict ahead of time who will behave that way. Airlines run a private business and people are welcome to travel with some other airline or drive by car if they don't like the rules of that airline. I guess those same people will argue we shouldn't have speed limits on freeways because that somehow inhibits their freedom.

 

[sam_gordon]

I don't see how this somehow limits our freedoms if airlines decide to stop serving alcohol. It is a safety issue when unruly passengers get into a brawl at 30,000 feet in the air. No one can predict ahead of time who will behave that way. Airlines run a private business and people are welcome to travel with some other airline or drive by car if they don't like the rules of that airline. I guess those same people will argue we shouldn't have speed limits on freeways because that somehow inhibits their freedom.

While I agree this doesn't limit our freedoms, I also agree this should be taken on an individual basis instead of limiting everyone. Bars/Restaurants in the airport shouldn't continue to serve alcohol to those under the influence, airlines shouldn't allow them to board and shouldn't serve them more on board.

On another note... if the thought is by denying serving ANYONE alcohol in order to cutdown on the limited (be honest) number of "troublemakers", couldn't you use the same argument at bars/restaurants on the ground? So going back to Prohibition?

 

[fly girl]

If she was that drunk she shouldn't have been allowed boarding. There is no alcohol on Southwest planes right now. and on a flight that short there may not have been any service at all.

Good point....maybe she was just off or something. I didn't see what the fight was even about. I saw the small clip where she swung and hit the flight attendant in the face....she took off her mask and had blood on her face. I believe she lost two teeth in the ordeal. A male passenger intervened and stood in between the woman and the flight attendant. I did read that she was banned for life from SW.....and wonder if that's the way to go, have the FAA get involved and ban people for life, or at least for a considerable amount of time from being allowed to be passengers on aircraft.

Yes, if she was that drunk she should've been stopped at the gate or during boarding. However, it can go unnoticed if they are not making a scene. I know in hindsight several drunk people have boarded a plane I worked. I didn't see it when I said hello at the boarding door. Was I preoccupied making a boarding announcement, getting drinks for first class passengers, or briefing with the captain because they arrived after we started boarding? Yes, yes, and yes! Unless you are stumbling down drunk or acting a fool we may not notice.

The fight was over her mask. She wouldn't put it on correctly (over her nose.) I am sick of the mask fights. You know going on a plane you have to wear it. If you can't do it, then don't fly. It is simple. Trust me, no one is happy to be wearing them but right now it is the rule.