American Airlines and Southwest Airlines have delayed the return of alcohol to their flights, ostensibly because of poor behaving passengers – although they’ve behaving badly while also not being served alcohol inflight so it seems an odd connection to make. American Airlines continues to serve alcohol in first class.
Facing a call by the international head of their flight attendants union for federal action to ban alcohol during air travel, United Airlines has joined the mix in a rather odd way.
United announced it will offer beer, wine and hard seltzer only on domestic flights longer than 800 miles or from hub to hub after previously stating they’d resume service for flights longer than 200 miles.
United Airlines will serve alcohol in coach on longer flights, but won’t serve alcohol on shorter flights. Customers have more time to throw back more drinks on longer flights, and have little opportunity for the alcohol to have a deleterious effect on behavior on the flights where it won’t be offered. This is the opposite of what you’d expect if the decision were being driven by a concern for inflight safety.
Meanwhile, passengers flying between United’s hubs on short flights (like New York – Chicago) will have access to alcohol because presumably they’re better-behaved while drinking.
Actually that’s not far from plausible. In fact I’ve thought of a simple test that airlines could administer before serving alcohol, that would allow the resumption of service while reducing risk of bad behavior. And if they wanted to eliminate bad behavior altogether they could administer this test at the boarding door instead.
- Passenger: I’d like to order a vodka tonic please.
Flight attendant: Who is the President of the United States?
Passenger: Joe Biden
Flight attendant: Very well, I’d be happy to get you one.
Much of the problems have come from the federal mask mandate, with passengers objecting to being forced to wear one. Passengers making a stand on board over masks have often been the same ones who caused confrontations on flights to and from DC at the start of the year.
This isn’t a political point. A majority of Republicans accept the outcome of democratic elections, just as Democrats do.
Another way we might go about this, even a bit more slyly:
- Passenger: I’d like to order a vodka tonic please.
Flight attendant: You know, it’s a shame Robert Mueller never did anything about Hillary Clinton’s child sex ring, y’know?
Passenger: The deep state is all powerful.
Flight attendant: I’m sorry sir, I won’t be able to serve you today.
Ok, I know this post is going to get me in trouble in the comments. But it’s time to get creative and find ways to return inflight service to normal. United’s copycat move, albeit odd in its implementation, is a disappointing one.
One question may be disputed.
Who is the President of the United States?
One answer is Donald Trump.
Don’t get too angry because if he is president, then he will be ineligible to run for a 3rd term in 2024
Too funny!
Heavy criminal charges against drunks on a plane would be the solution from the union. Do we need fewer flight attendants now?
Crazy comments galore to come…
Sorry, I don’t drink so it only affects people I travel with. I have a Polaris flight in August and hope my BFF still gets wine or champagne or something. I’d rather they drop the masks than booze, at least for people who got their vaccines. I understand people being upset about this, but I think it is more about saving money than anyone else. I stick with UA because I’m a Million Miler, but if they take more away, I might start with Delta as it is our hub.
Gonna get more BlueAnons or QAnons chiming in?
@Gary – You’re actually incorrect here. A majority of likely voters in the US believe Joe Biden won… but a majority, actually 70%, of Republicans believe that “Biden did not legitimately win enough votes” to win the election. Even 50% of Republicans believe there is “solid evidence” of that!
https://cdn.cnn.com/cnn/2021/images/04/30/rel3e.-.voting.and.elections.pdf
Relevant figures are on page 7 in the report.
FWIW, I only know this b/c of 538: https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/most-republicans-still-wont-accept-that-biden-won/
This is what people are referring to when they say our democracy is in bad shape. When a party cannot accept their legitimate (albeit narrow-ish) loss, all sorts of problems arise. Stay sharp, Gary!!
Ok, this made me laugh. Thanks, Gary.
The airlines’ practice of holding back all alcohol on flights makes absolutely *no* sense — I thought that flight attendants were originally responsible to “keep the peace” in cabins and can withhold alcohol from those passengers that appear to be inebriated and/or behaving badly? Why punish everyone onboard for the transgressions of a very few?
Is this a part of some Equity (of outcome) Policy (where everyone can get alcohol or no one can get alcohol) … OR … is this just another flight attendant union ploy to minimize interactions among flight attendants and passengers?
Funny….watching videos of all the airport/airplane fighting…the participants don’t appear to be alcohol swilling, insurrectionist, white supremacist Trump voters. What am I missing here?
This is ridiculous! Please advise how many mini bottles we can bring thru TSA. I’m scheduled on UA in F in a few weeks; flying hub to hub, so I’ll get beer & wine. I don’t want either. I enjoy vodka in flight. I always fly AA in F so I have been able to enjoy a cocktail this past year. I knew there was a reason I don’t fly UA.
So when does the beverage lobby chime in? I can’t imagine they are happy about this. In the continuing absurdity of what is a democracy where every moron has a voice and thinks their opinion matters this will become a political issue (the main moron here is the union). Why not just ban alcohol altogether if a few drunk people out of millions of fliers start trouble because a flight attendant didn’t cut them off? I mean, people get drunk and start fights when they aren’t on planes. What makes a plane anymore sacred than a cruise ship? or a train?
Democracy is just tyranny of the majority where 49.99% is enslaved under a system it doesn’t consent to or support. If Republicans support a democratic process, they only do so because our political leaders have failed to express to them the dangers and the illogicality of supporting a system doomed to enslave and harm us. Supporting the police and the enforcement of laws we view as evil is the opposition of what Republicans should be doing.
Democrats say the support democracy but only when they have the majority. They’ll call any situation in which republicans have the majority undemocratic. I wish society didn’t have to be based on lies. It’s not rational for anyone to support a system that leads to outcomes they don’t agree with. Of course Democrats will oppose democracy when a Republican is in power. Republicans should oppose democracy when a democrat is in power. We should be honest that democracy is a form of slavery and only with freedom and complete independence can we all be free. I don’t care how leftists choose to live their lives as long as conservatives are free to live their lives as they see fit (including having a separate country and physical living space)
Conservatives need to start approaching everything from a simple logical perspective. Abortion: 100% of people getting abortions are leftists. Conservatives should rejoice and literally pay people to get abortions. Drug laws: the basis for being conservative is not wanting government to tell us what we can and can’t do to our own bodies and with our own property. It’s illogical for conservatives to support drug laws. The list goes on.
So airline leaders again are missing opportunity. Most flight attendants have not learned how to work with people and how to defuse a customer’s behavior. If they could be taught how to acknowledge a person’s frustrations and offer them choices airlines could have less incidents and still make a profit from alcohol
If the airlines can make money selling booze, it will be back asap.
Everything else is grandstanding and posturing
These travel blog comment sections really bring out the dregs of society, don’t they? Laughing at the guy who typed out a novel calling democracy tyranny and then stating a bunch of non facts. Still sobbing over the massive L from November.
@Michael. The TSA website says, “Each passenger may carry liquids, gels, and aerosols in travel-size containers that are 3.4 ounces or 100 milliliters. However, each passenger is limited to one quart-size bag of liquids, gels, and aerosols.”
Small mini bottles of alcohol contain 50 milliliters of liquid refreshment. Fifty milliliters equals 1.6907 US fluid ounces. TSA allows 32 fluid ounces of liquid in your carry-on. 32 divided by 1.6907 equals = 18.9 mini bottles. Rounding down from 18.9 would be 18 mini bottles per passenger permitted in your carry-on, providing it will fit in a quart-size bag.
If you and two kids are traveling together, each passenger has an 18 bottle limit. Eighteen times 3 equals 54 bottles which should be more than ample for most flights. Remember, you are not permitted to serve alcohol to yourself on a flight. That task is reserved for your friendly flight attendant and only if they want to. Always drink responsibly.
Fun fact: Infants, defined as younger than two years old, don’t need a plane ticket as long as they are seated on their parent’s or guardian’s lap. Check with your airline to see if your infant receives a complimentary baggage allowance.
@Michael UA has full alcohol service in first class. You’re thinking of Delta that only serves beer and wine. Save your baggies for shampoo and face cream.
Update: 32 fluid ounces = 1 US liquid quart. The amount of mini bottles you can fit in a one-quart bag may depend on the shape and thickness of the mini bottle container. Let us know how many mini bottles you can fit in a one-quart bag.
On an AA flight last night in MCE. No alcohol. One row in front of us gets alcohol. That is beyond stupid. Just because someone is in first or business doesn’t mean they are any more well behaved than the rest of the passengers.
Maybe the problem isn’t the passengers but those flight attendants who are drunk with power showing just who is in charge.
If you take most of the letters in “Jackson Waterson” and rearrange them they spell “nonsense.” Just sayin’
Think alcoholed – up passengers create problems? Just wait..now that pot is legal in so many places, watch what happens when the stoners start showing up. For some , a doobie makes ’em mellow. But it also can fuel aggression and a total lack of common sense. WhoooHoooo.
Gary, that was hilarious. Made my day.
As my grandfather said it is the trash that causes and starts fight s. Let the passenger answer a multiple choice test to get a drink. The trash will fail. Simple questions. What is pi it it not apple that mamma makes. What is a 3 letter word for hard water, not H2O
@jamesb2147
Those who believe that Biden “won” legitimately must be either ignorant of, or intentionally ignoring, the existence of serious anomalies behind the 2020 POTUS and 2 Georgia Senatorial elections vote tabulations. If those “winners” did legitimately “win,” then why are Progressives so totally paranoid about having those state election results get audited? Why are they so desperately obstructing Due Process to confirm or deny facts and justice around those state election results? What are they trying to hide from the public by acting as if they’re Guilty of “Something”? Doesn’t make any sense! Just asking …
@CuriousCat – so when is the latest on Parler on Trump being re-inaugurated, August it seems?
Georgia flipped blue due to the President having lost (and being a historical loser), and GA having a pair of weak red candidates. Oh, and the work of Stacy Abrams too…revenge is a bitch!
@UA-NYC
Let’s not get derailed by baseless innuendoes from some silly reporter at NYT …
You’re merely parroting Establishment talking points! Now go and dig into actual anomalies that occurred during those Georgia Senatorial vote tabulation activities, exactly like during those POTUS vote tabulation activities …
@mike – Yeah there’s tons of articles about stoner hippies going out and committing random unwarranted violent acts rather than vegging out on Netflix while waiting for pizza delivery LOL.
I am disappointed in your decision Gary to turn (what had been) an interesting travel newsletter into your personal political soapbox. Do you assume your readers are primarily liberal, or do just not care if you are offending your audience? Would you have used the same example 4 years ago when Donald Trump was elected?
If you desire to continue having readers, perhaps you should consider getting ‘back in your lane’ and focusing on travel topics instead of espousing your political beliefs.
@Curious Cat – feel free to link to some legitimate journalist sources, I look forward to seeing them…note that press releases issued by Cyber Ninjas don’t count
@UA-NYC
Funny that you would try to “flip the script” on an assignment given to you, and, instead, try to goad the assigner into answering for you. Not playing that game … you need to do your own homework!
But I did read somewhere about totally credible reporting on this controversy by someone who is a five-time Emmy Award winner and a Radio Television Digital News Association (RTNDA) Edward R. Murrow Award recipient — Sharyl Attkisson
Happy searching!