Originally Posted by
MSPeconomist
Isn't there also an issue that some military people can be under 21, yet there might be a tendency for FAs and servers to assume that the uniform means they're old enough to drink alcohol legally? I don't know whether this could translate to liability issues for the person who gave the drink coupon, but I'd have some level of concern as laws regarding alcohol responsibility and underage drinking seem to be getting more extreme. <IANAL>
I believe this is a legal gray area. Technically, drinking ages are set by state, not federal, regulations, though I think that all 50 states are now 21+. I do not believe that the FAA has a drinking age, so it is unclear if there is any
legal minimum drinking age in the air, at least for interstate flights ( I would assume that, for example, LAX-SFO would be covered by CA law, but I think interstate commerce, including air travel, falls under federal law, right?). And I think that most countries outside of the US have 18+ (and often very loosely enforced) laws on the books.