DEBATE 6/2019 Business Spotlight 35
In over 30 years’ involvement
with airline-related complaints
and incidents, I’ve seen that al-
cohol plays a big part. I’ve per-
sonally sat next to people who
have been intoxicated and it’s
very uncomfortable. It’s much
worse, though, for the passengers or crew who get beaten up,
verbally harassed or sexually harassed by someone who’s had
one too many. Alcohol on flights is more trouble than it’s worth.
No one wants to be flying in an unsafe aircraft. When it comes
to alcohol, you’re dealing with a special situation. A couple of
hundred people are stuck together in a pressurized aluminium
tube. If someone is having a bad day and reacts to alcohol, it can
have a negative effect on the entire flight. You might have to
make an emergency landing, or worse. It’s not unreasonable to
ask someone to stop drinking for a short period while they’re
on a plane. We’ve already done it with cigarettes and smoking.
Airlines make money from the sale of alcohol, and staff are
incentivized to sell alcoholic drinks. Yet research suggests that
drinking at altitude has a stronger effect. And that’s something
people may not understand when they order a drink. The flight
crew should screen passengers for signs of intoxication before
they board, but they don’t have time to give everyone a breath-
alyser test or to check if they’re walking straight.
If you’re a nervous flyer, having a glass of wine might help you
fall asleep and be less anxious. But nowadays, people are taking
Ambien and other prescription drugs with a glass of wine. That
can lead to horrific incidents: people are attacking crew mem-
bers and other passengers. There is a really easy way of putting
an end to it — stop the alcohol. You don’t see the same in-flight
incidents on Middle Eastern carriers that ban alcohol.
It’s for the benefit of all: it’s a question of the safety of the en-
tire flight. You don’t have an absolute right to do whatever you
want on a plane. You have a right to drink in the privacy of your
own home or at the pub, but not on a plane. In the US, some of
your civil rights are suspended when flying.
An alcohol-related plane crash that kills a lot of people will
probably have to happen before a cultural shift takes place. I
hope it doesn’t come to that, but I fear that it might. Everyone
bears some responsibility. But if we ban alcohol on planes, it will
solve 90 per cent or more of the problems.
YES
“No one wants to be
flying in an unsafe aircraft”
Christopher ElliottNO
“Education, awareness
and prevention are the solution”
Francois BourienneCHRISTOPHER ELLIOTT
is a travel expert,
advocate and writer
(www.chriselliotts.com)airside [(eəsaɪd]
, luftseitig; hier: hinter
den Sicherheitskontrollen
altitude: at ~ [ˈæltɪtjuːd]
, hier: in großer Höhe
anxious [ˈæŋkʃəs]
, ängstlich
breathalyser test: give
sb. ~ [ˈbreθəlaɪzə )test]
, jmdn. ins Röhrchen
blasen lassen
carrier [ˈkæriə]
, Fluggesellschaft
civil right [)sɪv&l (raɪt]
, Grundrecht
confined [kənˈfaɪnd]
, begrenzt; hier: beengt
deterrent [diˈterənt]
, Abschreckung(smittel)
disruptive [dɪsˈrʌptɪv]
, (den Betrieb) störendfine [faɪn]
, Geldstrafe
harass sb. [ˈhærəs]
, jmdn. belästigen
incentivize sb.
[ɪnˈsentəvaɪz]
, jmdm. einen Anreiz
bieten
incident
[ˈɪnsɪdənt]
, Zwischenfallintoxicated
[ɪnˈtɒksɪkeɪtɪd]
, betrunken, alkoholisiert
offender [əˈfendə]
, Täter(in)
outbound
[ˈaʊtbaʊnd]
, hier: abfliegend
overstated
[)EUvE(steItId]
, überbewertetprescription
[priˈskrɪpʃ&n]
, verschreibungspflichtig
pressurized [ˈpreʃəraɪzd]
, unter Druck; hier: mit
reguliertem Luftdruck
retailer [ˈriːteɪ&lə]
, Einzelhändler(in)
side effect
[(saɪd E)fekt]
, Begleiterscheinungstag/hen party
[(stæɡ/(hen )pɑːti] UK
, Junggesellen/Jung-
gesellinnenabschied
suspend sth. [səˈspend]
, etw. aufheben
tube [tjuːb] , Röhre
worth: be more trouble
than it’s ~ [wɜːθ]
, zu viele Probleme
bereitenThe number of alcohol-related
incidents tends to be overstat-
ed. It’s a legitimate reaction. No
one wants an aircraft to crash.
But in-flight incidents are very
rare: in the UK, there are around
415 each year, not all of them
alcohol-related. With more than three million departures, this
means one incident per 689,000 passengers, or 7,690 flights. In-
cidents are now better publicized by the airlines, as a deterrent,
so they’re more noticeable than in the past.
The market has changed. Low-cost airlines attract a different
type of passenger. We are seeing incidents involving similar
flights and locations. Where people once went to Blackpool
or Brighton for stag or hen parties, now they go to Malaga or
Amsterdam. The bigger market is good for airport retailers and
airlines — we just need to deal with the side effects. All airside
bars are licensed and staff are trained to identify drunken be-
haviour. They are not allowed to sell alcohol to people who are
drunk and they record issues they face with customers. Cabin
staff get the same level of training. No one is pushing people to
drink too much. A lot of incidents are related to mental health
or medication. You get people who react to being in a confined
space. Others have a fear of flying, which gets worse during the
flight. The effect of alcohol is slightly stronger in a pressurized
air cabin: your resistance to alcohol is lower.
In the UK, drinking and flying is part of the culture. It’s about
the freedom of passengers. Some people are disruptive. Educa-
tion, awareness and prevention are the solution. Campaigning
for drink-drive awareness has worked. It is no longer socially
acceptable. We are trying to do the same for drinking and fly-
ing. The “One Too Many” campaign operates in 14 UK airports
with widespread media and social media coverage. At Glasgow
Airport, the Campus Watch initiative notifies relevant agen-
cies of drunken individuals or groups. It led to 55 per cent fewer
alcohol-related outbound offenders in 2017–18.
It’s a question of reminding passengers that there are conse-
quences to what they do. This might mean being banned from
a flight and needing to rebook, which can be costly. Or being
banned from flying with an airline, or getting a fine of up to
£85,000. There’s plenty more we can do as an industry, but the
issue is for everyone to work better together.FRANCOIS BOURIENNE
is chair of the UK Travel
Retail Forum
(www.uktrf.co.uk)