Während des Fluges trinken viele Passagiere gerne einmal ein Gläschen. Doch wirft der Anstieg alkoholbedingter Zwischenfälle an Bord die Frage auf, ob Alkohol zugunsten der Sicherheit nicht verboten werden sollte.
In over 30 years’ involvement with airline-related complaints and incidents, I’ve seen that alcohol plays a big part. I’ve personally sat next to people who have been intoxicated and it’s very uncomfortable. It’s much worse, though, for the passengers or crew who get beaten up, verbally harassed or sexually harassed by someone who’s had one too many. Alcohol on flights is more trouble than it’s worth.
No one wants to be flying in an unsafe aircraft. When it comes to alcohol, you’re dealing with a special situation. A couple of hundred people are stuck together in a pressurized aluminium tube. If someone is having a bad day and reacts to alcohol, it can have a negative effect on the entire flight. You might have to make an emergency landing, or worse. It’s not unreasonable to ask someone to stop drinking for a short period while they’re on a plane. We’ve already done it with cigarettes and smoking.
Airlines make money from the sale of alcohol, and staff are incentivized to sell alcoholic drinks. Yet research suggests that drinking at altitude has a stronger effect. And that’s something people may not understand when they order a drink. The flight crew should screen passengers for signs of intoxication before they board, but they don’t have time to give everyone a breathalyser test or to check if they’re walking straight.
If you’re a nervous flyer, having a glass of wine might help you fall asleep and be less anxious. But nowadays, people are taking Ambien and other prescription drugs with a glass of wine. That can lead to horrific incidents: people are attacking crew members and other passengers. There is a really easy way of putting an end to it — stop the alcohol. You don’t see the same in-flight incidents on Middle Eastern carriers that ban alcohol.
It’s for the benefit of all: it’s a question of the safety of the entire flight. You don’t have an absolute right to do whatever you want on a plane. You have a right to drink in the privacy of your own home or at the pub, but not on a plane. In the US, some of your civil rights are suspended when flying.
An alcohol-related plane crash that kills a lot of people will probably have to happen before a cultural shift takes place. I hope it doesn’t come to that, but I fear that it might. Everyone bears some responsibility. But if we ban alcohol on planes, it will solve 90 per cent or more of the problems.
The number of alcohol-related incidents tends to be overstated. It’s a legitimate reaction. No one wants an aircraft to crash. But in-flight incidents are very rare: in the UK, there are around 415 each year, not all of them alcohol-related. With more than three million departures, this means one incident per 689,000 passengers, or 7,690 flights. Incidents are now better publicized by the airlines, as a deterrent, so they’re more noticeable than in the past.
The market has changed. Low-cost airlines attract a different type of passenger. We are seeing incidents involving similar flights and locations. Where people once went to Blackpool or Brighton for stag or hen parties, now they go to Malaga or Amsterdam. The bigger market is good for airport retailers and airlines — we just need to deal with the side effects. All airside bars are licensed and staff are trained to identify drunken behaviour. They are not allowed to sell alcohol to people who are drunk and they record issues they face with customers. Cabin staff get the same level of training. No one is pushing people to drink too much. A lot of incidents are related to mental health or medication. You get people who react to being in a confined space. Others have a fear of flying, which gets worse during the flight. The effect of alcohol is slightly stronger in a pressurized air cabin: your resistance to alcohol is lower.
In the UK, drinking and flying is part of the culture. It’s about the freedom of passengers. Some people are disruptive. Education, awareness and prevention are the solution. Campaigning for drink-drive awareness has worked. It is no longer socially acceptable. We are trying to do the same for drinking and flying. The “One Too Many” campaign operates in 14 UK airports with widespread media and social media coverage. At Glasgow Airport, the Campus Watch initiative notifies relevant agencies of drunken individuals or groups. It led to 55 per cent fewer alcohol-related outbound offenders in 2017–18.
It’s a question of reminding passengers that there are consequences to what they do. This might mean being banned from a flight and needing to rebook, which can be costly. Or being banned from flying with an airline, or getting a fine of up to £85,000. There’s plenty more we can do as an industry, but the issue is for everyone to work better together.