This Airline Will No Longer Allow Drunk Passengers to Board
Joe Cortez June 21, 2018
Two Irish airlines are calling for a stronger stand on alcohol service pre-flight. A diverted Ryanair flight has the carrier demanding alcohol not be served in airports before 10 AM with strict limits after, while Aer Lingus says they will no longer board anyone who is visibly drunk.
Aer Lingus and Ryanair want to send a message to European flyers: Don’t drink and fly. DublinLive reports the two airlines are demanding tighter controls on beverage service prior to boarding.
After a Ryanair flight from Dublin to Ibiza was diverted prior to arrival on Saturday, June 16, 2018, executives for the carrier once again demanded changes to alcohol service. The proposed changes includes asking airports to stop serving drinks before 10 AM local time and limiting flyers to two drinks.
“It’s incumbent on the airports to introduce these preventative measures to curb excessive drinking and the problems it creates” a Ryanair spokesperson told DublinLive. “Rather than allowing passengers to drink to excess before their flights.”
Aer Lingus is taking a stronger stand on passengers who decide to drink before their next adventure. In a statement to the news website, the IAG subsidiary said they do not let drunk passengers board their aircraft. And if a flyer becomes disruptive or tries to break into duty free alcohol, they can be banned from flying aboard the airline in the future.
“All of our crew have been advised on the controlled sale of alcohol inflight,” an Aer Lingus spokesperson told DublinLive. “Should a guest become disruptive inflight, they may be denied future travel on the airline.”
The calls for change come as more flights are disrupted due to inebriated flyers, with some groups answering in a big way. At Amsterdam Airport Schiphol (AMS), employees receive special training on identifying drunk passengers, while Canadian prosecutors sought over $13,000 in fines against a drunk passenger who caused a flight diversion.
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It's a law to not board anyone that is intoxicated onto a flight, anyway. But certainly not enforced. And it also sounds like the "no coolers at concerts" or "not bringing liquids through security" malarkey. It is rooted in the disguise of "safety and security". But it's really about the money. People are going to drink anyway...…...so it's a "buy ours" mentality. I'm willing to bet that RyanAir charges premium prices for onboard liquor.
I get why they're doing this, but I laugh that they ask that OTHER BUSINESSES assist them by not taking people's money. For the most part, if someone is paying for a drink, a bar is gonna serve it to them. Ryanair should look inward and ask themselves why they're allowing people who are obviously drunk to fly, or why are they serving them enough to get them drunk.
Good.
What difference does the time of day make? I can get just as drunk at 9am as 10pm, so why ban drinking in the morning?
I was on a flight out of Italy and the airlines let a drunk person on board however very sternly told him to cause no trouble and the airline took his passport during the flight. Passenger was great - I think he passed out and was quiet during the flight. It worked on him but not sure if it would work for everyone.