The Responsibility Project^®. Exploring what it means to do the right thing

In-Flight Drinking: How Much Is Too Much?

21 Comments

February 25, 2010 by Kathy McManus

Should alcohol on airplanes be banned?

At a time of heightened airline security, alcohol-fueled air emergencies are making headlines.

A passenger on a flight from Atlanta to San Francisco locked himself in a lavatory, removed his shoes and shirt and began shaving, according to news reports. After he refused to come out, flight attendants blockaded the cockpit with beverage carts and armed other passengers with fire extinguishers. The plane made an emergency landing in Colorado, escorted by two F-16 fighter jets. It was reported that the passenger was drunk, having consuming five airplane-sized bottles of wine.

The pilot of a flight from Las Vegas to Honolulu made an unscheduled landing in Los Angeles after a passenger became involved in a “dispute.” News reports said the male passenger may have had “too much to drink.”

The mix of altitude and alcohol prompted the travel website FareCompare.com to ask readers if booze should now be banned onboard.

“I don’t see why liquor should be banned just because of the irresponsible behavior of a handful of people,” one reader wrote. Increase the penalty for drunken in-flight behavior, wrote another, and “make the drunk passenger responsible for the entire cost of any diversion of the plane or military escort.” Another reader doubted that a ban would solve the problem, saying, “If someone wants to drink, I’m pretty sure they can find an airport bar that will serve them. Do you get rid of those, too?”

Tell us what you think: Should in-flight alcohol be grounded?

21 Comments

What do you think? Leave a comment

• February 27, 2010 by runi

  Yes, booze should be banned on all flights, but not solely to curb "attitude incidents". Eliminating alcohol would also simplify inventory systems.

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• February 27, 2010 by Amy Grant

  Yes, I agree alcohol shouldn't be served on airplanes. This is not rocket science. There always will be people, mainly man, who simply do not know when to stop. So do away with it altogether. If somebody has a problem with it, then do not fly. As simple as that.

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  • February 28, 2010 by MJ

    "If somebody has a problem with it, then do not fly. As simple as that." I think you can't simply put it that way. Such things are never simple. Almost all things are bad when used too much/often/extreme/irresponsible, so you can forbid almost everything. You might get along with not drinking on a flight, and so do I. It wouldn't bother you if you were no longer allowed to drink onboard, but there might be people who like to enjoy a drink (and still behave responsible!). Those people would feel segregated, because you don't need/want alcohol but they do. An example: Imagine there would be a good reason to stop eating meat (I guess there are some), of course all vegetarians would say "YEEES!!!" because they maybe feel offended by meat eating of others. And now imagine vegetarians were the majority with like 80 % , they could/would outnumber the others and discriminate them. Maybe they can even create a law to forbid meat eating. Would this be correct? Legally? Morally? Would this be nice? (just to comment on your remark, because I just think these things aren't THAT simple.) Well I find it a bit radical to do away with it altogether. Anyway, laws haven't much to do with responsibility, sometimes I think they were made to bypass responsibility. With laws, people don't have to think about whether their actions are right, they just have to know whether it's legal, and that's a difference ;) In that case I'd say if the passenger can't control themselves, everyone else should interfere, especially the crew who serve the alcohol. No one will benefit if the plane has to emergency land because a drunk guy was on rampage and he now has to fully pay for the financial damage, while there was still the possibility that the crew just prevents that guy from drinking. But nothing would be a perfect 100% protections, sometimes things just happen. Sometimes you call that an accident. I don't want to see my freedom be replaced by innumerous laws to "protect" me, but currently that's exactly what's going on in politics.

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• February 28, 2010 by runi

  Hi, Amy--I think I understand what you are saying, and I respect your views. Possibly you don't remember the time (before 1990) when people could smoke on planes. I remember back in the 1950s and 1960s when the airlines would even give you small packs of four cigarettes with your coke. Then smoking was restricted, and finally prohibited, on planes. The elimination of smoking on planes made flying less unpleasant for nonsmokers, prevented (rare) dangers like a cigarette carelessly tossed in a lavatory's wastepaper bin, and reduced airline cleaning costs. If alcohol was prohibited on planes, the danger of alcohol-exacerbated incidents would be greatly reduced, and the costs of stocking, pouring, and overseeing consumption would end.

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  • April 25, 2010 by Kat

    Smoking cigarettes and drinking alchonol are really incomperable. A single passenger smoking a single cigarette has a health and comfort impact on all adjacent passengers - perhaps all passengers on the aircraft. The same cannot be said for a passenger having a single cocktail. The majority of individuals who purchase alcohol are not only drinking a single beverage and causing no incidents; but they also doing a service to you and I in providing a revenue source for the airlines which helps keep our ticket prices lower. Personally, I would like to keep it that way.

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• March 1, 2010 by M Jones

  One of the difficulties to the restriction of alcohol on board is the sale of duty free liquors both outbound in the airports and inflight by the airlines. I am not in favour of a ban on inflight alcohol, but it could be restricted in terms of the free distribution on board. But, if airlines or airports sell you booze to take on board, how can it be controlled? However, change is coming and duty free goods are now being sold at arrival, rather than departure. There is a website out there now called www.dutyfreeonarrival.com where you can check the different airports and who has this facility. Once more airports have these shops, then you will probably see changes.

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• March 8, 2010 by R Charnack

  Unfortunately, airlines look at the sale of alcohol as a way to increase their bottom line as they mark up the price to ensure a profit. Flight attendants should, however, be provided guidelines (if they haven't already) to cuff off purchases to anyone who is intoxicated. Since the problem seems to be limited to a small percentage of those persons drinking, it doesn't warrant banning alcohol to all who travel by air. Perhaps drink carts should display a message such as "flight attendants reserve the right to stop serving those....etc." and, of course, "________ Airline promotes responsible drinking."

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• April 19, 2010 by pharmacy technician

  My cousin recommended this blog and she was totally right keep up the fantastic work!

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• May 3, 2010 by Pharmacy technician program

  Wow this is a great resource.. I’m enjoying it.. good article

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• May 14, 2010 by festypextuate

  thanks! :)

  lets write them until the admit it, or stop doing it! i am writing them now!

  :)

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• May 28, 2010 by Louis126

  I think this is a very interesting issue/question going on here, with perhaps many different angles to consider, not any one of which is necessarily the correct view.

  Several years ago (late June/early July of 2000) I was on a connecting flight from Houston, TX, to Tulsa, OK (which had originated in ABQ, NM). During the time in which they let some passengers off, and other (new) passengers on, I noticed that the 2 gentlemen who were being seated in the 2 seats next to me had OBVIOUSLY been hanging out in the airport for a really really long time. They were so drunk that they were being kind of obnoxious (IMHO). They certainly had no concern or reservation whatsoever about who heard the comments, opinions, or attitudes which they had to share with everyone else on the airplane. Fortunately I had a listening device (a walkman, or some sort of device like that), and was able to shut them out for a little bit of time. However most of the flight was a struggle for me. Their obnoxious remarks which they constantly made pretty much throughout the entire flight were (in many instances) very inappropriate. Not only this, but I also seem to recall now that at least one of the 2 men (if not, perhaps both of them) had brought one of those little "miniature" liquor bottles with him on board the flight (as if he hadn't already had WAY too much to begin with). I for one, could not wait to get off of that flight.

  At the time of that flight I had been living my life as what might be described as like one who was on the proverbial "wagon" at the time (I was living my life with an absence of alcohol in my life at the time, which obviously didn't help the situation). However, today I choose to drink beer (and only beer) responsibly, and I do on a fairly "regular" basis. However, even though I can say I enjoy drinking beer, there is still no way in the world that I could ever condone the condition that those 2 individuals were in on that flight, nearly 10 years ago now.

  So, as I said earlier, it really is a tough question/issue to address and answer.

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• June 11, 2010 by Pharmacy Technician classes Los Angeles

  No is shouldn't be banned! its part of your holiday, its when you relax nad enjoy yourself! and have you noticed how people always drink something slightly different on a plane! I am a white wine girl, but always have a vodka and tonic on a plane! ;) ... my dad always has a bloody mary...? ha!

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• November 26, 2010 by carolyn

  Yes I think acohol should be banned from airflights. Theres plenty of time to drink if you want to after the flight. There is a wide range of ages on an airplane and we should all set an example of responsible behavior to the younger people on board. Some people don't know when to stop

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• October 1, 2011 by fredrico

  then what will the pilots do??

  ba dum !

  ban everything

  that is the goal

  then only those at the top will enjoy life

  oh ,wait, they tried that already

  IT WAS CALLED THE USSR

  GOOD LUCK AMERICA

  KEEP ELECTING THOSE "NOBLE PEACE PRIZE" "WINNERS"

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