Gransnet forums

Chat

Alcohol on flights ?

(116 Posts)
Urmstongran Tue 19-Mar-19 14:13:55

In the face of a rising tide of drink-fuelled violence and antisocial behaviour, highlighted by a boozy confrontation on a flight from Glasgow to Tenerife over the weekend that ended with one man badly injured, there are increasing calls for booze on flights and at airports to be restricted.

What do you think?

absent Wed 20-Mar-19 20:48:29

Baggs Some airlines will not allow passengers to take duty free bottles on board. Instead they are placed in the hold with an identifying number and returned to the passengers at their destination.

Kalu Wed 20-Mar-19 20:35:48

I don’t know anyone who has wine with every meal. ?

Lucylastic Wed 20-Mar-19 20:34:59

GabriellaG54 - you sound like a fun girl!
Glad to hear you're no longer heading for NZ.
But we are.
Enjoy Leeds.

Happychops Wed 20-Mar-19 20:29:20

I do enjoy a glass of wine at the start of our holiday and like many enjoy it with my meal. We’ve been lucky and have never been on a flight wth drunken people,but would be scared if people behaved badly.
I am always surprised that on some very early flights people are sat in the bar drinking alcohol before breakfast time.
I just couldn’t,but to some that is the start of their holiday. Stopping it would mean people may drink their own alcohol before arrival at the airport or they would bring it with them.
Zero tolerance is not fair on the people who enjoy having a drink while they wait,and are well behaved. It is only the minority who behave badly,so perhaps bigger punishments if they misbehave on a flight.

KatyK Wed 20-Mar-19 19:54:15

Anyway, we're off to the pub wine

Jalima1108 Wed 20-Mar-19 19:45:35

Do you have wine with every meal at home?
only when on holiday

grin

Anyway, I am not likely to meet you unless you get an upgrade.

SueDonim Wed 20-Mar-19 19:08:52

Having a glass of wine on a plane is a rare treat for me. We live in a place with no public transport and very strict drink & driving laws (quite rightly) so a glass of wine isn't something we indulge in very often.

On a long overnight flight it helps me sleep for a bit so I can then face my onward flight. Of course no one needs alcohol on a plane or anywhere else but then there are lots of things in life that we don't need but it's nice to have.

The worst behaviour I've ever seen has been on flights to a certain developing country and alcohol was not a factor, the passengers were just out & out obnoxious and entitled.

KatyK Wed 20-Mar-19 18:52:19

If you can't manage on a cup of tea or coffee then you have a problem....
Wow. It's not a question of managing
It's a question of what you enjoy, be it tea, coffee, alcohol or whatever. As long as you are not causing a problem, which most don't, it's no one else's business.

PennyWhistle Wed 20-Mar-19 18:49:03

GabriellaG54 wow you are judgemental! I was trying to explain how much effort it would be for airlines to change their approach in business lounges. Why should a traveller not enjoy a drink, alcoholic or otherwise, when on a long journey. Also, when on flights - sometimes for over 12 hours, not enjoy a tipple of their choice. Lighten up!

Granless Wed 20-Mar-19 18:45:17

No alcohol in airports or on plane - like no smoking in airports or on plane. If you can’t manage on a cup of tea/coffee or two, you have a problem.

Aepgirl Wed 20-Mar-19 18:39:50

I don’t like this idea of banning something because of a small minority of people: it affects the majority more because if people want a drink when none is available, they will bring their own.

wildswan16 Wed 20-Mar-19 18:36:13

There is no problem with having a glass of wine during a flight. There is a massive problem with people drinking whole bottles of wine and spirits they have purchased on the way to boarding as well as those offered by the flight crew.

Having been on a flight which was disrupted for the entire five hours by a drunken group of men and women I hate to think what would have happened had there been an emergency. They were in no frame of mind to follow instructions and would have put everyone's lives at risk.

GabriellaG54 Wed 20-Mar-19 18:33:36

I'm certainly not 'against' anyone having a drink anywhere but serving alcohol to those who are evidently raucous enough and been drinking pre-flight, should not be happening.
Airborne staff can't refuse...and risk bedlam on board or serve alcohol and risk bedlam.
There has to be another way.
We are, indirectly through our tickets, paying airlines who have to divert their aircraft due to disruptive behaviour.
Disrupting patrons wouldn't go unpunished in theatres or pubs, they'd be ejected so we must find a way of stopping this dreadful behaviour on or before flights.
I'm sure that going without one or two glasses of wine with one airline meal wouldn't kill you. Do you have wine with every meal at home?
The holiday usually starts on arrival, not on an aircraft filled with a couple of hundred strangers.

Kalu Wed 20-Mar-19 18:16:04

Oh Gg54. Over indulgence in any form is seen as a hoot within the upper classes. Behaviour that would no doubt shock someone such as yourself. You certainly would not receive any invitation with such a disapproving attitude.

Jalima1108 Wed 20-Mar-19 18:12:56

It is not alcohol that is the problem - it is the abuse of alcohol and those travellers who abuse it.

People who enjoy one glass of wine with a meal on a long haul flight are not the problem.
*Gabriella if your friends travel for work I can understand that they may not want to drink but now I am retired this is the start of my holiday. I do not want it to be spoiled by abusive drunks either but I do not see why I should not enjoy my glass of wine just because your friends do not like it and I do not behave badly.

I have seen people behaving badly on a plane but that was not due to drink.

annodomini Wed 20-Mar-19 18:04:07

annsixty - please don't strive for perfection! I like you as you are!

HildaW Wed 20-Mar-19 18:01:35

Huge fan of village Pubs, great for community spirit ...in both senses of the word. On a flight the problems of alcohol could not be more different. Its an enclosed space, a huge mix of people who would much rather NOT be there ...we enter a plane to get somewhere...its not a destination in itself... Staff members have to cope with the results and they have a pretty thankless job at the best of time. Add boozed up numpties and it would be my idea of hell!

GillT57 Wed 20-Mar-19 17:59:37

No it was not a daft comment GG54 it was perhaps a clumsy comparison, but the point I was making is that because some people choose to abuse alcohol and be unpleasant, this is no reason to deprive the rest of us who enjoy alcohol in moderation.

Floradora9 Wed 20-Mar-19 17:49:49

We were on a flight to Ibiza when a stag do and a hen do joined us. There was bedlam during the flight with singing , a bit of fighting and flirting over our heads between the two parties. I was told it would be better on the way home well it was worse but still the Jet2 staff served them drinks and made no attempt to shut them up . One chap said to my HD he had left his wife and children to go on this rampage and he regretted it .

GabriellaG54 Wed 20-Mar-19 17:39:39

GillT57
What a daft comment.
You can walk out of a pub and go elsewhere but not off an aeroplane.
Drunks can be removed by bar staff but you can't open plane doors mid- flight.

GabriellaG54 Wed 20-Mar-19 17:36:44

There are a lot of people who choose not to drink alcohol just because they don't like it and don't want to sit next to people who don't realise that a pressurised cabin affects the way you react to alcohol at a much earlier stage than drinking at ground level.
Neither my OH nor a close male friend who are both very frequent flyers work wise, drink alcohol. One drinks only tea or fruit juice, the other only juice, no matter where or with whom.
It's poor manners to inflict bad behaviour on other people, especially when in confined spaces.
I usually try for upgrades and I'm sometimes successful.
Other times I pay for business class if it's too noisy in economy.

GillT57 Wed 20-Mar-19 17:21:12

4allweknow. Airports have never been alcohol free. If we were to apply some of the suggestions made by some of the more po faced GN posters we would not have village pubs just in case somebody had too much to drink.

GabriellaG54 Wed 20-Mar-19 17:20:34

annsixty
Hmm...well, it's hard but rewarding. I never get messed about because I don't put up with sloppy admin or bad behaviour.
There are a few of us who are perfect but the membership bar is very high.
Too high for mere mortals but keep trying. ?‍♀️??

??

Jalima1108 Wed 20-Mar-19 17:10:03

I cannot believe that you were serious Carolpaint!

KatyK Wed 20-Mar-19 17:07:46

Jalima yes I meant to say I'd rather have a glass or two of wine rather than tranquillisers. Who knows where that might lead?