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Just so many assumptions there and complete lack of breaking down the length of flight, destination or if the person is afraid to fly etc. or had some sort of ongoing celebration.
It almost sounds like you're lecturing but have never really experienced it yourself much?
That said, we can SURELY agree on people getting ripped on flights and causing problems.
My former partner was afraid to fly, would get modestly drunk so as not to cry the whole flight and I would chaperone. In my entire life I have never been on a flight where there has been a problem like you describe and that includes about 50 flights including ones to Vegas.
Have you encountered any personally? If so please share.
I'm not sure how many who post here understand the concept of the airport lounge. However, many airlines have lounges tucked away in airports and those who are members can usually get free drinks, snacks, and or food free of charge. I usually get to the airport early. I aim for two hours or more early for a domestic flight. I aim for three hours early for an international flight. Than I locate a lounge that DW and I are members of that is within some reasonable proximity of the departure gate. We usually spend an hour or two in the lounge drinking, eating, and chatting with other passengers before our flight. We are members of some lounge--due to credit cards--in every major airport in this country. So, heck yes, we drink before we fly. Unless its early in the morning or such.
Its not a question of fear of flying for us. Its simply a question of being able to get alcohol and food for free and having a way to pass time while we are waiting for our flight. I imagine a lot of people think the same way that we do. Heck, if people didn't drink before they flew the lounges would probably all shut down.
It's Sunday afternoon. You are racing to get packed and get everything in some kind of order after the good times had the night before because it's the only time you get to meet up with your friends. You're racing to the airport. You need enough time to get from long term to departures. Into parking, onto the shuttle, one last smoke before a long flight, check in priority, security priority. While you're fast, you also know there's a min/max timeframe....today went smooth so you've got an hour to hit....where else....the airport lounge. Because....when you fly all the time, it's really nice to have a place to go.
There you see half of your fellow road warriors that will be traveling with you. You politely nod to each other like a mini-check in, but unless something is super urgent....you each respect that while together, we're still on our own time and for the next week or two we will be working with each other, commuting with each other, likely eating together and give ourselves that last bit of space....to do whatever. Sometimes you may have that last freedom drink. Some weeks you're with people you like. Some weeks you're with people you don't like. Sometimes the people are fine, but it's your last chance to do e-mails to get a jump on things before cramping up into a ball for a few hours. God help you if you're flying economy and needing to type out e-mails. The only real option there is to sleep....and sometimes a drink or two can quiet down whatever unfinished business it is you're leaving behind and just relax, confident that seat guru has guided you well. Maybe some drinks, but low....definitely no issue there.
Fast forward to Friday. The team's been struggling all week, up each night because local issues in the field are worse than anticipated. Better halves didn't get calls. We're tired. We are gunning right up to the deadline and get complete with a half hour to spare. We have our closing meeting. There's a lot to go through right up to the last minute when we need to leave. We need to get that rental car back and everyone's packed and ready. We've been looking at each other for 14 hours a day and we want to fly back home that Friday to get our Friday night and full Saturday doing whatever. You arrive at Nothing'sville International where they don't have a lounge. Everyone's checked in though....by God we made it. World saved again....a collective exhale by the group. A quick beer in acknowledgement with each other because the last thing we want to do (even though we're mostly fine with one another) is see each other 1 minute into our time.
Then the first buzz that hits us all. We're delayed. A hurricane in Miami has consumed the plane that's taking you from Cleveland to Chicago. It's going to be 4 hours more. The calculations start....if we were in Detroit instead, we might just get our rental car back and drive it to Chicago in about the same time. We're all smart enough to have carryon bags....but not Cleveland.
So there you are. You all just want to get home...on time. Yet once again you're the friend calling up your other friends saying....hey that thing for tonight....yeah I'm going to be late or miss entirely.....again. And you've all just done that. So you start a company tab and start drinking....because there's nothing else to do. You're so bored that you drink and get stupid e-mails done....until you finally get that click that allows you to detach and no longer care....and then your group has a collective stress relief until that buzz comes and you've finally got a plane. You've had 3 or 4 drinks by now, but you can board your plane, curl into your corner if you're window, or arrange your well trained body if your aisle and now go to sleep. That tug of takeoff helping ease you finally into the first destressed rest you've had all week....and usually you don't cause any problems after that.
Cheers to the United Amsterdam crew (944? it's been over a decade)
I'm not sure how many who post here understand the concept of the airport lounge. However, many airlines have lounges tucked away in airports and those who are members can usually get free drinks, snacks, and or food free of charge. I usually get to the airport early. I aim for two hours or more early for a domestic flight. I aim for three hours early for an international flight. Than I locate a lounge that DW and I are members of that is within some reasonable proximity of the departure gate. We usually spend an hour or two in the lounge drinking, eating, and chatting with other passengers before our flight. We are members of some lounge--due to credit cards--in every major airport in this country. So, heck yes, we drink before we fly. Unless its early in the morning or such.
Its not a question of fear of flying for us. Its simply a question of being able to get alcohol and food for free and having a way to pass time while we are waiting for our flight. I imagine a lot of people think the same way that we do. Heck, if people didn't drink before they flew the lounges would probably all shut down.
No one wants to shut down the airport lounges. We are talking about serving alcohol on the plane. Obviously intoxicated people should not be allowed to board of course. Do what you want pre-flight, but some believe the airplane isn't a bar so leave the booze behind.
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Flying is so very stressful, for a number of reasons. First, it's the actual fear of flying. The fear of take-off. I see people gripping the arm rests and stressing because of that. The whole concept is frightening. And then you're crammed in with people you don't know, very uncomfortably sharing your personal space. You may not even have the ability to put your arm on an armrest, because your seat mate who you don't know is already there. And if you need to go to the bathroom you'll have to make others move for you. It's likely you can't even reach your backpack underneath the seat in front of you, to get something you want, because there's no room to lean forward to reach it.
I've been in many airports in the last two months, and am no longer surprised to see people drinking in airports at 10 a.m.
I never drink at the airport or on a flight. Why? Because I usually have to drive upon arrival at the destination.
I have seen a few "overserved" passengers in my travels. One guy flying from Detroit to Nashville was standing at the gate and I was afraid he was going to fall down. The bad thing is he appeared to be traveling alone and it was a short flight. I HOPE he had someone picking him up upon arrival.
A second one that stands out is a lady on the shuttle bus. She was obviously intoxicated and alone. She drove home drunk.
Every time I fly I notice the airport bars are usually packed with people drinking.
Do people really "need" liquid courage for such a simple and statistically safe form of travel? The odds are one in 11,000,000 for a fatal outcome flying vs one in 5000 driving to the airport.
Smoking? Smokers can use nicotine patches or lozenges to quell the urge during the flight.
My opinion is alcohol and flying don't mix well. I remember a friend of mine back in the day who had a t-shirt that said "Instant A-hole, just add alcohol" and sadly that saying is true for a portion of the population. I feel sorry for the flight attendants who have to deal with these people daily. They are not paid that well for the job they do; adding the problem of intoxicated passengers is unfair. If people are nervous they can use a sedative to get through the fear.
Your odds of dying in a car crash in any given year are 1 out of 8527. So I'm going to go ahead and say that your claim that you have a 1 in 5000 chance dying on the way to the airport is a bit off.
As an aside, the stats say that any given American's chance of dying in a car crash over the course of one's lifespan is just under 1%. I consider that really, really high. Even the 1 in 8527 stat for a given year is pretty unsettling.
Flying is so very stressful, for a number of reasons. First, it's the actual fear of flying. The fear of take-off. I see people gripping the arm rests and stressing because of that. The whole concept is frightening. And then you're crammed in with people you don't know, very uncomfortably sharing your personal space. You may not even have the ability to put your arm on an armrest, because your seat mate who you don't know is already there. And if you need to go to the bathroom you'll have to make others move for you. It's likely you can't even reach your backpack underneath the seat in front of you, to get something you want, because there's no room to lean forward to reach it.
I've been in many airports in the last two months, and am no longer surprised to see people drinking in airports at 10 a.m.
I was just surprised that the Chicago airports during the pandemic had no breakfast options but the bars were open at 6am? This didn’t seem like a wise idea to me at all. I think I also recall people pre pandemic standing in line with beer and then just tossing it once they reached the boarding pass scan in. It was a bit much. I know O’Hare flights can be bumpy, but still…
And for people who have never had issues on planes- great for you. I was on a flight to NYC where the guy next to me puked on the floor/seat before takeoff and had to be escorted off. Luckily there were open seats elsewhere that we could take. It was a morning flight, so clearly he’d been drinking heavily overnight.
Your odds of dying in a car crash in any given year are 1 out of 8527. So I'm going to go ahead and say that your claim that you have a 1 in 5000 chance dying on the way to the airport is a bit off.
As an aside, the stats say that any given American's chance of dying in a car crash over the course of one's lifespan is just under 1%. I consider that really, really high. Even the 1 in 8527 stat for a given year is pretty unsettling.
Its all perception in my opinion. Statistically, I know the odds of dying in a plane crash are extremely low, however, as a former aircraft mechanic the images of things ive seen haunt me as I fly. Its all in my head but I always feel as if there was 1 in a million chance of dying in a plane crash that for once in my life id be that lucky (or unlucky in this case) person who was on that one plane. Im not even afraid to die but the thought of crashing scares the hell out of me and my brain just cant focus on anything else.
Ironically, if there is less than a 1% chance of dying in a car crash in ones life, I find that to be extremely low. Again, its all perception as you feel it is really high and unsettling so ultimately it boils down to the acceptable level of risk that each of us as individuals are ok with. Id be more apt to drive thousands of miles than hop on a plane and though I understand the reality is that im safer on a plane, my brain just wont process it.
True, American carriers tend to limit cattle class to Beer and Wine, while "premium economy" and farther forward get all of it - but international carriers, like ANA or many others - when flying long haul - hand out booze even to the lowest class of patrons. That's kind of a play on words there ;D
Perfectly fine for me as I don't drink mixed drinks that often. I will say the pour was fantastic though. Two glasses and I fell nicely to sleep on the way home. On the way to Europe the seats were so uncomfortable that nothing could make me sleep. I swear only a kid could sit comfortably in them they were so narrow. The return flight was a Dreamliner and that was much better except for the asshat in front of me who wanted his head in my lap just as they were serving lunch.
Alcohol rarely causes a problem on planes, trains, etc. If there's a problem its w/ the individual, and there is no need to penalize everyone just because a very few people create an issue. Look at how often this even comes up? I have never experienced it 50+ years of flying, and have never talked to anyone who did. Getting rid of alcohol on planes would be like closing every bar in the country because a few people caused occasional problems. And honestly, even in my younger bar hopping days I can't remember anyone causing problems in a bar, and that was living in New Orleans!
Should there be restrictions on alcohol in regards to being a passenger on a flight? For example, should airports have a BAC limit on flying passengers like for driving? If the passenger at the gate smells of alcohol then the TSA pulls out a breathalyzer and if they blow above a certain number then they won’t be allowed on the flight.
What problem are you trying to solve? I have flown many times and don’t see an issue. In principle, if you are too drunk to follow directions when going through TSA screening, or too drunk to handle taking everything off while standing in line, then you should wait - but why does this require a separate rule? A TSA agent can always deny entry for failure to cooperate with the screening process.
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