Southwest & American delay alcohol service onboard

The sale of alcoholic beverages onboard has been a worthy feature for many passengers wanting to make out of their trips a more pleasant experience.

Only halted by the pandemic in March 2020, when the explosion on infection rates forced the airlines to avoid contact between passengers and staff, the service was set to make its comeback on 1st June. However, these plans have been put off by these two airlines as a consequence of increasing “disturbing situations onboard aircraft,” American Airlines’ vice president of flight safety, Brady Byrnes, has told its crew this weekend.

This way, the airline joins competitor Southwest Airlines’ initiative to stop serving alcohol (until at least the end of June) following last week’s incident in one of their flights from Sacramento to San Diego where a 28-year-old woman punched one of the flight attendants multiple times in the face causing her to lose two teeth.

The incident marked one of the 477 acts of “misconduct” the airline suffered onboard its planes from mid-April till the day, Southwest Union president Lyn Montgomery warned.

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has received over 2,500 reports of unruly passengers only this year, equaling the sum of those reported the previous 2 years. 1900 of them involved customers refusing to wear a mask, an insurgent attitude described by Ms. Montgomery as “the worst ever,” or at least since 1992 when she started in the industry.

As such, the same administration introduced January tougher fines for offenders of up to $35,000 as well as jail options for particular cases.

Both carriers have insisted on preserving their employees’ well-being while praising their essential role as front-liners who are typically in charge of “ensuring customers’ safety, but also calming fears, answering questions, and enforcing policies like federally-required face masks,” told Mr. Byrnes to the CNN.

He then stressed American Airlines’ zero-tolerance policy over “assault or mistreatment of their crews” and recognized the alcohol’s contribution to “atypical behavior from customer onboard.”

What may be the reasons behind these misbehaviors?

As for the statistics, it seems like people are saturated with prolonged restrictions – especially in mobility – which then degenerates into stubborn, uncivil, and combative attitudes. Also, the end of the federal mask mandate is close enough (September 13) to create some expectancy among passengers, which, when linked to successful vaccination rollout – and the subsequent fake sense of safety – may as well increase resistance.

American Airlines has made clear, though, that the service will only affect the main cabin passengers, while their business and first-class customers will remain exempt. Other American carriers like United and Delta have also pronounced on the issue and have stated that their services will continue unaltered. In this sense, Delta’s spokesperson has cited the “respect and civility among all” as “a key component of their values-led culture” to justify their response to the recent assaults.

It remains unclear if the measure will positively affect the number of these occurrences and how long will airlines be able to keep passengers away from drinking before opting for other competitors that will serve drinks onboard.

Source: https://aeronewsx.com/southwest-american-delay-alcohol-service-onboard/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=southwest-american-delay-alcohol-service-onboard