I also agree it is sometimes difficult to catch them drinking their own but if you are only selling soft drinks to them and as SCCM making the whole crew vigilent it's not that hard.
You say you don't allow pax to drink their own alchohol easyflyer but then quote the amount of empty bottles you find on turaround
Personally I rarely find said empties as I just confiscate bottles from potential troublemakers and give them back on disembarking.
So it's hard to catch them but at the same time you are saying it's not? Make your mind up.
Myself and my crews are always vigilent. However, and as I said before, you have other passengers to take care of. Most people who drink their own do it very discreetly whether that be pouring from a bag or out of a water bottle. You do have an idea who MAY be drinking their own alcohol purely by what they're buying but short of searching their bags it can be very hard to catch them and of course we don't have the power to search peoples luggage, particularly if it's on a whim of suspicion that they might just be drinking their own alcohol. Only if you hang around that particular row all flight will you catch them for certain and lets face it, you have alot of other things to do on board than just that.
And yes occasionally i've found bottles of alcohol ranging from wine to vodka. I'm not embarrassed at admitting that because you can be as vigilant as you like but when you have upto 180 passengers, there is very little you can do if they are very discreet and devious about it.
As a side. I've been doing the 'no own alcohol PA' on all my flights long before the memo allowing us to make it on flights we feel necassary.
I just confiscate bottles from potential troublemakers
Way over the top. You cannot go round confiscating bottles from people who you perceive as possible trouble makers. That is unfair.....at best. Again, whilst you're playing Columbo the little old lady is getting hammered on either her own or bar alcohol because you don't perceive her to be a 'potential troublemaker'. You've lost the plot.
I do agree with easyflyer that there is usually the "halfway sensible" in these groups and also the complete idiots. Common ground there.
Personally I do not leave the safety and control of my cabin to the "halfway sensible" in a stag or hen party because when exactly do they loose control of said idiots in their group? Is it when they become one because we are selling to them from the bar? Or perhaps it is when they are consuming their own?
Nobody, and certainly not me, said that you leave it to the "half sensible". I said identify the 'half sensibe/leader', identify the idiot and use that to your advantage. There is a difference.
At your base Captains may agree to take the loud and unruly into the air and allow you to sell to them from the bar during flight. Maybe you only "consider" telling them and quite often don't as CM.
I communicate effectively with my Captain's. Remember also, we operate relatively small, open planned cabins and as a consequence the flight crew are usually aware of whats going on if a group are being excessively rowdy on boarding. They share their concerns with me and vice versa.
One day that ego of thinking you "have control" of drunks on your flight as CM will come back to bite you easyflyer
Taking things personal again. I have no ego.
You think a divert for drunken yobs on a flight compromising safety is OTT easyflyer. Why?
Because there is a difference between drunken YOBS and a group of excitable, lively passengers. A very big difference. With the latter they rarely impede on safety and you can control/manage them rather than diverting and wasting airline resources and passengers time. Yobs are different and I have never condoned or said that I tolerate yobbish behaviour.
That would be the only course of action for the commander had the cabin got out of control.
We're not talking about the cabin getting out of control. You're simply grabbing hold of the worst case scenario.