roberino

So, I was on a long haul flight with a major national carrier and desperate for sleep. I decided to "self-medicate" and it seems I asked for six or seven top ups of whisky even after meal service wine, etc. When I asked for the last one the FA said to me, "We need to be careful these days about how much alcohol we give people on a flight, so why don't you have a quick walk around the cabin and then tell me if you still want some more whisky."

I did as he asked and shortly afterwards asked for some water. I was amazed at how drunk I'd got given that I felt fine when I was sat down. I sat down again and slept for four hours.

I know this wouldn't work for all pax, but maybe encouraging pax to share responsibility/awareness for their drinking might alleviate SOME of the issue of drunken pax in flight?

Steve Weagant

I suspect the crew observed you and decided you would respond to this approach.

TravelerMSY

Sometimes it takes a little while to kick in. Especially if you have a full stomach. Hopefully they saved you from a massive hangover.

roberino

Quite probably. As it is I woke up feeling fine and with a clear head.

gglave

Interesting.

In my case, I'll certainly have a glass of wine on a flight to wash down a few Nytol, but in your example six or seven top-ups of whisky wouldn't help me sleep - It has the opposite effect.

(Although even in the case of Nytol I on a TATL I'll often take them 2 hours before I board so they're mostly out of my system when we land.)

If I have a few too many, once I hit the bed I know I'm not going to fall asleep quickly, nor am I going to have a restful sleep.

roberino

As with a lot of such "treatments" I think that either alcohol or Nytol might help with the final push over over the hill to the land of nod but won't do a damn thing if you're not already in the zone. In any case, when I'm drunk I'm not a fighter. I'm more likely to start group hugs.

rickg523

One Melatonin tab backing up a Gold Cap 50.
Zzzzzzzzzzzz

cur

the way i learned to control myself was getting blammered one time, puking everywhere and realizing how much of an idiot i was and how such idiocy ruined a bunch of people's flights. that memory scares me straight and i'm glad you wern't that guy.

either way as i do lots of ultra long haul flying i still get blitzed on flights, but in a laughing really loud while watching some will farrell movie kinda way, not a drunk puking idiot kinda way. either way i get blitzed in the lounge before. then i get usual servings on the plane (4-6 servings of light stuff like wine and port, maybe a whiskey on top, but mos def not 7 whiskeys), i eat as much as possible (last time i asked my business class neighbor for his sundae), take an advil night during the meal, and i sleep like a kween. honestly i sleep 70% of the flight, i wake up refreshed and i'm good to go.

i dont think anything has changed/"we need to be careful", they were politely saying "you've been over served and probably won't believe me so go for a walk". it happens to the best of us. what they say to my dumb ... is "uh you're cut sir". either way it's always for the better.

WillCAD

HA! Thanks for the laugh!

The only people this approach will work on (generally) is those who already drink responsibly (limit their intake, don't drink on an empty stomach, etc) and those who truly care about the comfort and safety of themselves and others. A responsible drinker who occasionally makes a mistake and has a few too many as you did is usually not a problem in flight (or on the ground) anyway.

The ones who are truly a problem are the irresponsible idiots who a) are too stupid to know how to drink responsibly and b) don't give a rodent's posterior about anyone but themselves anyway.

Put more plainly, encouraging responsibility only works with those who already have it. You can't get blood from a stone, nor can you coerce responsible behavior from an irresponsible drunk.

Kudos to the FA who handled your situation with discretion, dignity, and professionalism, though. You should probably send a complimentary email to the carrier about him.

darthbimmer

Agreed. Another way to put it is that a conscientious person admonished about his/her behavior will pause to reconsider. The rest hear it as nothing more than a personal attack and pause only to consider whether to ignore it or fight back. It's the latter that make servers reluctant to cut off drunks. The FA in this story either is a good judge of character and determined the OP is the conscientious type, or is headed for bad experiences in the near future trying this approach on everybody.

weero

How do you do it?

I usually can extort 2 rum/whiskey & coke from the crew. I third one with walking back to the galley and begging. On very few occasions in F, I 'scored' 4 drinks ... but that was on a FRA-BKK or LHR-SIN, so still less than drink every 3 hours.

roberino

I just pushed my call bell and asked nicely!

jacobac00

What a professional crew and you as well. I like how that was handled. It is certainly easier to handle ones drink while seated. I also wonder if the request was dual purpose. Give you a chance to measure your level and a chance for them as well. I know U.S. regulations say the crew cannot serve (or let board the plane) anyone visibly intoxicated. So maybe having you stretch your legs would have been a chance for them to say they could tell you were intoxicated. Of course they knew how much the served you so that may not matter.

In either case, well done to both parties.

roberino

I doubt it. The last thing you'd want as an FA is to have someone stood up at the point where you cut them off, whilst drunk, and potentially make them angry! Better to have them sat down so that if they start to become aggressive you already have the upper hand.

weero

If I push the call button, the crew usually gets angry (US carriers) or agitated (Asian carriers) .
Are they really planning for this? That is a very unlikely outcome.

And it would require further measures, I reckon as even drunk & sitting would usually not overcome the dimorphic strength difference between women and men.