PPRuNe Forums - View Single Post - BBC article: Airport alcohol sales to be 'examined' by Lord Ahmad
Old 29th Jul 2016, 11:44
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chrissw
 
Join Date: Aug 2007
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My immediate reaction to the article was that an "examination" will lead to...exactly no action being taken, and that is what I fully expect to happen.

Nevertheless, I'm not sure what "action" is required. It seems pretty clear that the problem is (a) limited to a very, very small fraction of passengers; and (b) that no group responsible for any part of the passenger journey, from check-in to destination, seems willing to deal with it.

Even so, the effect of alcohol-based disruptive behaviour is out of all proportion to the number of people doing it, especially if you're a well-behaved passenger on a disrupted flight.

My personal view is that no seller of alcohol at airports wants to restrict their sales, because they have enormous rents to pay to the airport. The gate staff, as has already been pointed out, have no incentive to deal with it; indeed, it seems to me that the only incentive they do have is to get everyone through the gate as close to on-time as possible and as quickly as possible.

Don't airport security have a role to play here? If they see loud and obnoxious behaviour airside, can't they do something about it, like detain or question them, warn gate staff, etc? I admit I know little or nothing about how roles and responsibilities are assigned at airports, so this is just thinking off the top of my head.
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