Flight attendants for United Airlines are allowed to drink while on duty in certain circumstances. So are flight attendants for Air Canada.
- They are ‘deadheading’ – flying during their duty day from one city to another, but not working as crew. For instance, they might fly from their base to another city where they will pick up a flight to work, or fly back to base after working.
- And they aren’t expected to work any more that day.
There are times when deadheading isn’t all that exciting… you fly as a passenger for a couple of hours and then immediately pick up another flight and work it as a flight attendant. In this type of situation, there would definitely be no excuse to drink.
But what if flight attendants are deadheading as the last duty of their day, especially on a long-haul flight? …[I]t turns out that out of the major US airlines, only flight attendants at United Airlines are allowed to drink when they are deadheading and not expected to work the same day.
There are, of course, some rules. For example, flight attendants can’t be uniform, and the door to the plane must be shut with everything ready to go before they take their first sip… just in case something crops up and they are suddenly expected to work on the flight.
One reason not to permit this is brand: there’s a long history of not wanting airline employees to be seen drinking. It’s obvious for pilots, and even photos of pilots mixing a drink in an inflight magazine caused a row, but it’s also true for flight attendants also. And alcohol wasn’t something airlines wanted reflecting on their brand.
Another is that with extensive route networks, and since they’re paying the flight attendant still anyway, why allow anything that would disqualify further work on the off chance it were needed?
Of course, airline crew are people. I’ve seen a flight attendant furtively drink an alcohol mini in the galley prior to boarding with an FAA inspector on board. I’ve seen a pilot take a bottle of wine with him from the galley after a flight. There are plenty of stories like this online. In the former case it’s a potential safety issue, in the latter it wasn’t but still a violation of policy.
Large airlines with tens of thousands or even over a hundred thousand employees have some alcoholics amongst their ranks, and some at times will also have lapses in judgment. Even employees who don’t work for Japan Airlines! That’s why airlines have safety programs that allow crew to seek help usually without jeopardizing their careers. But those programs aren’t always robust enough to keep crew from hiding substance use.
I’m sorry, we tried Prohibition a hundred years ago, and it ended poorly; let those off-work enjoy responsibly, ideally, out of uniform, so as to not upset the prudes. (Speaking of ‘addiction,’ anyone catch Hunter’s recent podcast/interviews? Seems like a ‘cool dude’ who’s overcome a lot… *casts a line* ‘come fishy-fishy…’)
Maybe not a great idea. Wait until your home and then kick back and enjoy. Sobriety is underrated
(*reels it in, attaches fresh bait, casts it out farther* …at least the weather is better and the smoke cleared a bit.)
It doesn’t seem like they are “on duty” at that point.
wow.. this has been the case for over 20 yrs…im sure there are more important airline news than this crap.
Good for United and this reasonable policy.
(Eh. That’s why they call it fishing, not catching…)
The question is are they being paid? If they are deadheading they are being paid and therefore the airline should be able to dictate whether they may drink or not. They’re on company paid time.
Commuting to a base the day before or commuting home is another story as long as out of uniform. But they should be limited to two drinks since they may either be working the next morning or driving once they land.
No it’s not a reasonable policy. Just the optics of a crew member drinking alcohol while in uniform is a really, really bad idea. Most DH’s are paid trips, maybe not at the full rate, but still paid. DH crew members, just like the Jump Seat rider, are considered additional crew members and as such should have same duty requirements.
One Trippe: “Just the optics of a crew member drinking alcohol while in uniform is a really, really bad idea”
Actual rule as quoted above: “There are, of course, some rules. For example, flight attendants can’t be uniform”
Woah, did @This comes to mind just call-out @One Trippe?? “Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!”
BTW, I just caught the apparent typo I copied and pasted: “flight attendants can’t be uniform.” or at least I assume the word “in” is missing. BTW, I would have loved this in days gone by. I used to get the FA drinking in hopes she’d remove her uniform. Now, they have to take it off to drink!
@This comes to mind — Niccce.
This is not news. Out of uniform, not working for at least 12 hours after the flight? Enjoy yourself.