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No preflight alcohol at ABQ
I was on a UA Experess flight yesterday from ABQ to DEN and the FA came around for beverage offers in first class while we were parked at the gate. I asked for a glass of white wine. The FA told me that ABQ does not allow the serving of "that kind of beverage" while on the gound. She offered water. I declined. I never drink the stuff.
Once aloft she automatically and cheerfully came to my seat with a glass of white wine. I told her it tasted especially good because I had to wait for it.
Has this ever happened to you at ABQ? Does anyone know of other airports with a rule like this?
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Quote:
Originally Posted by WIRunner
ABQ is Albuquerque, NM
It is closer to Mexico than Canada, but is very much in the USA.
I do understand that. The OP asked if there were any other airports that didn't allow alcohol to be served onboard while an aircraft is on the ground, and I was responding to this.
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Question for the lawyer types.
Are the airlines legally bound by these silly state laws? Since they're engaged in interstate commerce, it would seem that the applicable law would be that of the state the airline is based in and / or federal law.
I've no actual knowledge of such things, but IIRC state attempts to regulate tarmac delays and the like were shot down in court for this reason until the federal law was passed.
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Are the airlines legally bound by these silly state laws? Since they're engaged in interstate commerce, it would seem that the applicable law would be that of the state the airline is based in and / or federal law.
I've no actual knowledge of such things, but IIRC state attempts to regulate tarmac delays and the like were shot down in court for this reason until the federal law was passed.
It's no different than driving a car over the state border and being subject to their laws.
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all politics is local
I have a vague recollection from at least twenty years ago where I believe it was a mid western state (Kansas, perhaps) that was boarding Amtrak trains and arresting waiters for serving beer and wine to dining car customers while traveling through the state.
I suspect that in those jurisdictions in which similar bans apply (as NM was and seems to be still), the state statute prohibits the serving of alcohol (even the "free' sort) not purchased within the state and upon which no state tax has been paid, less a consumption issue than a tax matter.
We old boozers recall even stranger rules. In my youth, NY and LA allowed 18 year olds to purchase and drink any alcohol product. Of course, in LA, at least in Bossier City and other oases, actual practice allowed service to anyone tall enough to put their quarters on the bar.
CO allowed 18 year olds to drink "3.2" beer (which was part of the legend which helped Coors to spread across the college world and the land). I seem to recall that VA had a similar code. For the young, getting drunk cost more and took longer, apparently dissuading no one intent on reaching that condition.
In retrospect, the old MA law which prohibited standing at a bar to drink on Sunday benefited mainly the manufacturers of tall stools and cocktail tables, seemed uniquely silly. Many jurisdictions (and some states) prohibited the sale of alcohol on Election Day. Vast stretches of "Flyover" country never surrendered Prohibiton, and even decades of change leave strange trails of whether, what and when beer, wine and distilled spirits can be served. Entire theses, dissertations and books have been written attempting to describe explain the liquor laws which existed and continue to abaound in Texas, state and local, especially individual precincts and incorporated areas within counties, from bone dry, through semi-wet to wet, on-premises or off, and not least of all, "liquor by the drink" and "private clubs".
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After his unsuccessful run for president of the New York City Council in 1969, writer Jimmy Breslin remarked, "I am mortified to have taken part in a process that required bars to be closed."
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Orion
I have a vague recollection from at least twenty years ago where I believe it was a mid western state (Kansas, perhaps) that was boarding Amtrak trains and arresting waiters for serving beer and wine to dining car customers while traveling through the state.
IIRC, 2V (Amtrak) still enforces local, or at least state, liquor laws on its trains. Supposedly the service manual lists the state liquor laws.
I wonder if Amtrak enforces county liquor laws. That would be fun in KY; the Cardinal and City of New Orleans both pass through dry counties.
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No preflight alcohol on the ground at DFW before 1200 on Sundays. Presumably the case all over TX but DFW is the only airport where I regularly test this.
(Although DFW being an AA hub, preflight alcohol, or any beverage at all, is pretty scarce any day of the week at any time of day due to AA flight attendant laziness, "late catering" or any other number of trumped up reasons to avoid PDB service)
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or any other number of trumped up reasons to avoid PDB service)
