Banning duty free alcohol IS part of the answer
Covenant,
I've always been uneasy about duty-free on board, far more so since 9/11. I can't believe FAA haven't taken some action:
1. A bottle of high-proof spirits IS a deadly weapon. Broken it's as bad as a knife, unbroken it's a potential Molotov cocktail. It's lunacy to keep selling the stuff, or allowing it on board. Confiscating granny's nail clippers but allowing anyone glass bottles of Vodka... lunacy!
Doesn't anyone else see this? I'm astonished how little discussion this issue has had. Who needs bombs? Three or four willing martyrs on a flight, coordinated action each with a couple of bottles of spirits (and if they've brought them on board, the actual contents of the bottles may well be something even deadlier and more incendiary than the purported contents) and you have perhaps eight simultaneous fires in the cabin. I wouldn't bet on a good outcome...
2. It's a lot easier and less confrontational to stop serving someone who's had a skinful than it is to take away a bottle they already have.
So:
3. Prohibit pre-boarding duty-free sales.
4. If prohibition just won't fly, collect it from the pax as they board, return it as they disembark.
5. If in-flight duty free sales are to continue, sell the stuff but don't hand it over to the pax until you're on the gate.
Just my $0.02
R1