No Alcohol For Low Cost Airline Passengers?
Posted on : 17-03-2016 2:30
Should Cheap Flight Passengers Be Banned From Drinking Alcohol At UK Airports
The UK CAA (Civil Aviation Authority) reported that alcohol-related incidents were continuing to rise, where in 2015 the number rose to 114 and in 2016 these figures will rise again unless action is taken.
In Flight Incidents
The incidents included passengers and crew being assaulted, drunken passengers trying to open the cabin door while in the air, as well as trying to gain entry to the cockpit.
Incidents were uncommon but in recent years, more planes are being forced to divert to off-load passengers due to their bad behaviour.
When the aircraft diverts it’s not just the airline that suffers, passengers also suffer by being delayed. The CAA has become so concerned about the alcohol problem they advised in 2015 for tougher restrictions to take place.
Small Survey
With more incidents happening due to the over consumption of alcohol, we decided to speak to 100 passengers to try and find out if they felt alcohol should be banned at all UK airports. The results were surprising.
We asked 100 passengers if they felt alcohol should be banned at all UK airports and 36 people said yes. However, 61 of the people we spoke to said without being asked, that any passenger travelling with a cheap flight airline such as easyJet, Jet2, and Ryanair should not be served alcohol at the airport.
The first answer to our question did shock us and we decided to tackle this a bit further. The 61 people who said cheap flight passengers should not be served alcohol at airports blamed stag parties and hen parties as well as people getting away for a cheap lads weekend for the incidents.
The people we spoke to said all pubs at the airport should bring in a policy where passengers have to show their boarding pass, and if they produce one with a cheap flight airline they should not be served. Now, although the incidents have happened on various airlines, it seems low-cost airlines are being held responsible for the growing problem.
Due to the overwhelming response that cheap flight airlines attract bad behaviour we decided to ask the 61 passengers if they would travel with Ryanair and other cheap airlines? Thirty eight of them said no, not unless alcohol was banned at the airport and on the aircraft.
We asked the one hundred passengers if alcohol should be banned on the aircraft and only 8 said yes. However, 24 passengers did say alcohol on-board an aircraft should be limited to one drink.
Low Cost Airline Steward Comments
With the results blaming the rise in incidents on passengers using cheap flight airlines we decided to speak to two air stewards, one from easyJet and one from Ryanair.
We put our findings to them and they both agreed that alcohol should be banned on-board their aircraft and at the airport. However, both agreed they could not see this happening, and if the airlines did stop serving alcohol then flight tickets could become more expensive.
One steward who did not want to be named said: “I get really worried when I see stag or hen parties board the plane, I know there could be trouble ahead. Although most are well behaved, I do get worried.”
One suggestion, which was brought up by both air stewards was a new policy where stag and hen parties should not be allowed to fly in large numbers. A lot of hotels around the world have stopped taking bookings from hen and stag parties but legally, we are not sure an airline could bring in such a policy.
To reduce the number of incidents something needs to be done, but is banning passengers from drinking at airports the answer, or banning passengers travelling on cheap flight airlines? Please let us know what you think on our official Facebook page.
UKACP Comments
We really do try to stay impartial most of the time but sometimes when a topic like this comes up we just can’t help but have something to say, Here it is…
We firmly believe that penalizing low cost airline passengers by not allowing them to drink at the airport is 100% unfair! In fact we’re sure that it would be illegal to introduce such a policy. It almost smacks of apartheid!
People who fly low cost airlines have exactly the same rights as anybody else at the airport. You cannot assume that everybody flying with a low cost airline are anti-social, disruptive, drunken thugs with ASBOs!
Once again it seems that the problem is being tackled from the wrong angle! Those who do act in a disruptive / anti-social way should be dealt with very very hard!
For example, a person or persons who disrupt a flight and cause it to be diverted should pay compensation to the airline, have their passport(s) taken off them for a few years and possibly face a short time in jail. We’d also like to see them pay compensation to all the other passengers whose time they wasted but could imagine that might be a logistical nightmare.
