Flight attendants outraged by resumed alcohol sales at Southwest Airlines

Southwest had postponed serving alcohol due to the spike in unruly passengers.

“More than ever, flight attendants have been dealing with unruly passengers fighting against mask mandates, and now, they’re saying enough is enough.”

“Southwest flight attendants are ‘outraged’ after the airline announced on Thursday that it is planning to resume on-board alcohol sales…

The airline had postponed the return of alcohol sales in late May, citing the uptick in unruly passenger incidents.

The decision to pause alcohol sales came less than a week after a Southwest flight attendant got her two front teeth knocked out by an unruly passenger on a flight from Sacramento to San Diego.

85% of flight attendants have dealt with an unruly passenger in 2021: Survey.

‘It tops the chart of the most egregious things I’ve ever heard of,’ Lyn Montgomery, a spokesperson for the union that represents Southwest flight attendants, told ABC News at the time. ‘It’s unbelievable and really hard to understand the level of aggression that has been exhibited towards our flight crews.’

Montgomery said that many flight attendants felt ‘leery about beginning to sell alcohol onboard the aircraft again because alcohol always intensifies an event.’

The union says it still feels it is too soon to begin serving alcohol again eight months later….

The Federal Aviation Administration has seen a record spike in unruly behavior on board since the start of 2021. The agency’s investigations into the surge in aggressive behavior on-board has shown that alcohol is often a contributing factor.

In July, the FAA urged airport bars and restaurants to stop serving alcoholic drinks to go…”

Abridged quotes from article: Mina Kaji, “Flight attendants outraged at Southwest’s decision to resume alcohol sales”, ABC News, 5 Feb. 2022.

Comment: Flight attendants know that removing alcohol from flights and airports will always improve the safety of passengers and staff. The prevention of alcohol-related violence should always trump profits (regardless of when temporary mask mandates may apply). Therefore it is not good enough only to ban specific convicted passengers from flying again.

Did you know? During flight, air pressure is reduced and blood oxygen levels decrease. This affects how someone feels even worse drinking during a flight than drinking on the ground.

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