Alcohol on flights ?

Yes definitely ban alcohol. But could they make the coffee less hot, lol

Would prefer no alcohol. Flying back from Dubai the young woman with a three year old I sat next to, so drunk and abusive, she hit her mother in the face, got removed with the child on landing at Heathrow. She drank ten of the small bottles of wine, the child had become apprehensive as the drinking progressed, so this probably was not unusual. Her mother was sat elsewhere and came over part way through, when mother asked how much she had drunk, the answer was two, I was the one that pulled down the flap and saw ten bottles. As I had not drunk at all, I think she may have got more from the stewardesses by saying they were for me. Quite honestly alcohol is tolerated far too much, I would prefer spliffs were offered pre flight and for football crowds. First flew in 1954 am not sure if everyone behaved themselves, just that there were fewer of us. All you nervous flyers why not have a preflight diazepam. It is time we were grown up and see the harm alcohol and all the other drugs do, making an informed choice.

We were at Doha airport a few years ago (think it was there) and as we walked towards our gate we passed the queue for the Aeroflot flight waiting to board. Many of the passengers were openly drinking duty free vodka straight from the bottle. ?

Working as a rep in Turkey, we often had to deal with people arriving at the airport in such a state that they were unable to stand, they didn't bring their luggage out, didn't know which resort they were going to nor the hotel name. we were expected to know all this on their arrival!!

Airlines are permitted to refuse boarding if they think that someone is to drunk to fly, and at least if it wasn't available on the plane they would have a few hours to sober up before arrival. I have on occasion had the dubious pleasure of refusing boarding on their return flight due to their behaviour and drunkenness on arrival.

Why can't everyone just be sensible when they fly, there is always a few spoiling it for everyone else. Perhaps breathalysers on boarding just to annoy everybody and make them queue even longer!!

ps no alcohol available at the airport either. Duty free though is a must have.

Why is any alcohol a 'must have'?

Whenever I travel by air, I am gobsmacked by the relentless alcohol encouragement, before and during the flight. I hate it. I don't want to be in a confined space with drunks

It should be made easier for nervous fliers to get a couple of tranquilisers. In fact seeing as one can now get prescriptions after a phone consultation I don't see why an airport paramedic can't be empowered to give a couple out to a passenger once they have passed airside (ie proof they are an actual passenger) Seems a lot safer than alcohol.

I say ban alcohol, it causes more problems than it solves.
I never drink on a plane except for still water.
My idea of hell is a seven or eight hours flight with rowdy drunks.

Surely the personnel on board should have the right to refuse to serve anyone who has had too much, exactly as a bar tender has?

Misdeke
Not just guys who get in this state on flights but women too and this, not from personal experience fortunately, but a colleague who witnessed a 'hen' party and could not believe that ladies? could lower themselves to the level that she witnessed that resulted in two 'hens' requiring medical attention and an ambulance awaiting flight arrival.

There is absolutely no reason why anyone needs to drink alcohol on an aeroplane; they are not pubs. Maybe some people need to take a breathalyser too before they board, if they have drinking in the airport, and be banned from the flight and have to go home by sea or land at their own expense. Anyone who causes a disturbance on an aeroplane during the flight should have their passport confiscated for a minimum of 10 years, wherever they are from, and banned from that particular airline for life. That would make some people think twice about misbehaving. Bad behaviour is treated far too leniently, especially in this country.

Not long ago I had a stewardess become very sharp with me since she misunderstood my 'one gin two tonics please' and thought I meant two gins one tonic. I'd had nothing beforehand.
Yet she had no,problem supplying a bloke sitting next to me with one whisky after the other - he must have had half a dozen during that flight. However he didn't become at all obnoxious.
From her accent she was E. European - whether that made a difference to her attitude I don't know..

People who become drunk/obnoxious on flights should invariably be arrested on landing, IMO, and if this results in a night or two in a dubious foreign jail, and then being put on a plane home without their holiday or business trip, so be it - serve them right.

Smoking was vilified and smokers were not allowed to smoke in most places. Alcohol seems to be pushed at every opportunity. I am a nervous flier but also TT so I just have to control my fears. The thought of being stuck in a confined space and on a plane with a load of drunken louts would be the end of me.
I have never seen any rowdy behaviour from smokers who had had too many or dont have any cigarettes. Alcohol is often the trigger for violence. All this wine drinking is supposed to be the thing to do these days but I remember when wine drinkers were the unemployed no users hanging around rough areas. It makes me laugh to hear of the lovies who like their glass of wine!

Well I must have been extraordinarily lucky since in all my years of flying, mostly long haul, I have never encountered any drunken behaviour from fellow passengers.
I would be very disappointed if the behaviour of a few prevented the vast majority from enjoying a drink with their meal. As for the comparison with smokers, I don't think anyone has ever been harmed by second hand alcohol vapours, in the way second hand smoke has.

I am not in favour of banning alcohol, but I am in favour of limiting it.

I think having your boarding pass stamped when buying a drink at the airport - with a maximum of say 2/3 drinks then if someone wants to buy alcohol on the plane, they should have to show their boarding pass to show how many drinks they have already had.

Duty free alcohol bought in the airport should be handed to the aircrew and collected when the flight reaches it's destination.

Fortunately, have never encountered such behaviour. I do need brandy before boarding though as I am a nervous flyer and am no longer allowed betablockers because of my asthma. I don’t become rowdy thoug, rather the reverse. I am not a drinker normally and would never touch a spirit in the regular course of events.

For some reason I am always surprised when on a plane leaving say 7am in the morning people start asking for alcohol! It’s beyond my understanding. Yes, I think perhaps alcohol should be banned on short haul flights, if you cannot go 2-3 hours without it, you better join AA the minute you get off the plane. I enjoy a glass of the red stuff but in appropriate settings and sitting crunched up on a plane with a home made sarnie isn’t it!

Yes smoking is banned, but second hand smoke would take lots of exposures to kill. A drunk person can do an awful lot of damage in seconds, life changing damage plus the awful social damage that that particular addiction inflicts on family. As a previous poster wrote if you suffer so much from flight anxiety about four diazepam or such from your GP would enable you to enjoy calm there and back.

Like many others I enjoy a glass or two on a plane as the start (or end) to a holiday. I wouldn't like to see it banned. I've seen people helping themselves from the service area on long haul flights - some have had an awful lot, but as long as they behave themselves there's no problem.

But on a short-haul flight from Poland the air crew were constantly serving spirits to a group of six men coming home from a stag do. They were pleasantly merry on boarding and having a laugh with the crew and the couple in front of them, but we could tell a tipping point had been reached with one of them and yet the crew still kept asking him if he wanted more. As we all walked towards Passport Control the man who'd been sitting in front of them made a jokey comment about the bad head he'd have the next day and he went berserk, arms flailing and obscenities flying, spitting, his friends holding him back. Children were crying and obviously upset. Funnily enough the plane out to Poland had been delayed too, as police boarded to deal with "an incident" and two passengers were escorted off.

As someone who doesn't drink any alcohol, I agree with thise who ask the question 'Who needs a drink at 9am to 'celebrate' the start of a holiday?'
I studiously avoid flights which have plebs on stag/hen dos, footie fans or sitting near kids or fatties.
This year I have even cancelled my NZ holiday due to recent events and I'm exploring more of GB, starting with a week in Leeds, exploring Haworth country, Knaresborough and surrounds.
The local tourist office have offered me drink and some cake if I drop in.
Life is good in GB.

Nandalot
You don't need a drink before boarding, you've just convinced yourself that you do.

Can't anyone go for a maximum of 12 hours without alcohol?
It seems not.
AA meetings should be full.

Why ban it? Why spoil it for those of us who like to have a little drink on a flight? I have been on many, many flights and can honestly say I have never seen a 'drunk' on a flight. A drink for some people is all part of getting into the holiday mood
I only mean one or two, not gallons of it

I have only ever had a drink on a long haul flight to Tobago.
I prefer not to drink beforehand too. My husband likes a glass of something. I think it should be restricted to 2 drinks per person.
However as airlines get a lot of revenue from drinks on board I suspect it will never happen.
I'd certainly ban drinking in airports- I've seen some awful sights!