Alcohol on flights ?

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.

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!

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.

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.

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.

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?

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.

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.

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

Why is any alcohol a 'must have'?

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

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!!

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. ?

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.

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

I was on a flight to India once where there was a party of young Muslim men who were confronted with alcohol for possibly the first time in their lives. They managed to get stupidly drunk and one or two were sick into their beards. Disgusting.

I do like to have a glass of something before I board (depending on what time the flight is) but do not very often have anything alcoholic on the flight. That is my choice and I don’t think it should be taken from me because if a few selfish drunken people.
I have however had a dreadful experience on a British Airways flight where there was a stag party totally inebriated throwing around balls of rolled up paper and openly drinking from litre bottles of Jaeger Bomb. The air stewards could not control them and ended up moving us to different seats rather than sorting the yobs out.
This was caused by the amount of alcohol consumed before boarding not what they were served on the airplane.
The bottles should have been confiscated from them.
The only thing the crew did was tell them to calm down (totally ignored) and make a couple of them cover up slogans on their TShirts. I am not a prude but they were disgusting saying things about raping women.
I felt sorry for parents with young children on this flight as they must have felt intimidated.
My complaints to BA fell on deaf ears but it has put me off flying with them again as they totally did not deal with the situation.

This is all a far cry from the first time I ever flew ! People behaved themselves and there were no louts or drunks ! Sad.

I think the selling of alcohol at airports should be stopped. Most people are in the terminal for a couple of hours before boarding so any effects of earlier drinking should have worn off before getting on the plane. Then, once in flight a small (controlled) amount should be allowed with meals.

I think you should have to purchase vouchers to buy a drink at the airport when you book the flight e.g. maximum of 3 units per person. Would not solve it completely but would cut it down. Also mandatory jail sentence for agressive behaviour on a flight of 5 years

I’m always surprised by people hitting the bars at airports really early in the morning. I know we are all different but that would make me ill and spoil my day. Maybe people should be breathalysed before they board as there have certainly been some frightening incidents for young families to witness.

I think if possible restrict intake of alcohol at the Airport bars, thats were the trouble begins.
On Long Haul flights, it is nice to be offered wine/ beer with meals,otherwise on short flights alcohol doesnt need to be served.
Personally I enjoy a glass of wine.

Definitely think that alcohol shouldn’t be sold at airports or in flight. It’s another case of the few spoiling it for the majority!

Seem to remember there were great outcries when a ban on smoking was being mooted. How were people going to cope? Its all done and dusted now and people seem to manage.
I do not cope with flying very well, it makes me rather unwell and alcohol is definitely not something my system needs. In fact I'm one of those strange people that do not have the meal no matter how long the flight. You are just sitting there, hardly using much energy and I'd much rather have something decent before I board and then have a proper meal upon landing (or after a decent sleep in the hotel if its a really long flight). All travel writers recommend just keeping hydrated and not taking alcohol as well.

Restricted, possibly. Banned, no.
Anyone who appears drunk when boarding should be refused entry to the aircraft. Anyone being violent/abusive on the plane, should face arrest at the arival airport, and if an aircraft has to be diverted due to their behaviour, they should be faced with the costs.