Duty free in the skies
 

Hi guys, hope you can help...

I am due to fly Manchester to San Fransisco via Philly at the start of September with a couple of pals - one of whom's not the world's greatest flyer.

Anyway, he's dreamt up a masterplan of buying a bottle of wine in duty free, carrying it on and - for want of anything better to do - drinking it.

What I'm wondering, as someone with a fleeting interest in not embarrasing pax / crew, is.... is this acceptable? Putting it crudely, buying booze in duty free and drinking it on board?

Serious replies appreciated guys (my best mate who's a new JetStar pilot says it's cheeky but just about okay so long as you don't go too far..)

:ok:

It's not cheeky to drink your own alcohol on board an aircraft... it's just illegal!!!!

I'm afraid but you are not allowed, by law, to drink your own alcohol on board an aircraft... you can just consume alcohol bought on board, cabin crew have to be able to keep an eye on how much alcohol a passenger is drinking....

Jet2LeedsTom Best to ensure that your friend does not drink too much before boarding. If he thinks that he might tank up - he my well find himself denied boarding. That would mean no insurance claim and pay his own way home!

Not an expert or anything but this has bad idea written all over it.

What are they going to do in an emergency?

really Tom, after your question about morning drinks last august , im starting to worry!:E

But to my mind, though I am native here
And to the manner born, it is a custom
More honor'd in the breach than the observance

Looking at worst case scenario, if one of your pals drinks a little too much it could end up in all of you being removed... It has happened before!

If your mate can afford the flight, surely he/she can afford to buy a few drinks on the plane, it's not worth the risk

"I'm afraid but you are not allowed, by law, to drink your own alcohol on board an aircraft... you can just consume alcohol bought on board, cabin crew have to be able to keep an eye on how much alcohol a passenger is drinking...."

More like the American airlines wanting to scam you for $7 a drink. The most out of order passengers I've seen had been given free drinks by cc.

It is actually a breach of contract rather than a violation of statute in many jurisdictions. Drinking alcohol on board other than that served by the cabin crew would normally violate the "conditions of carriage" that you enter into when you purchase your ticket. The cabin crew then have the right to remove the "offending" alcohol, normally on the condition that it will be returned to the passenger at the conclusion of the flight.

In the US it's a violation of the FAR (121.575a). Likewise 121.575b(1) and 121.575c (see post 6).

TightSlot
Completely agree, although 2/3rds of the OP's userid indicate that's probably a non-starter ;) .

The alcohol on flights is a throwback to the "Golden Age", when the airlines used to give out cigarettes as well. If one can be stopped, so can the other. Smokers can suppress their cravings (for the most part) for hours at a time, quasi-alcoholics should have to do the same.

OK, I'll grant a glass of wine with the meal (meal ? :ooh: ) is all right, maybe two, but that's it. Flight attendents should not be barpersons and to expect them to have to control objectionable drunks is unreasonable.

Rant over.

Given the problems it causes due the the irresponsibility of the stupid few, I'm all for banning consumption of alcohol on flights. I enjoy a glass of wine or a shot of whisky as much as anyone else, but I can do without it.

And drinking your own on board is just a no-no for so many reasons, mostly already stated here.

- one of whom's not the world's greatest flyer.

Why not deal with the actual root cause, as opposed to just getting blotto? - ie his fear of flying ...

Does this mean that he will have to have a bottle of wine on the flight back and on every flight he takes?

I've seen alcohol taken from pax on many occasions on the Dublin-Krakow route, usually just with a word of warning. On a more recent flight when a pax refused to hand over the offending vodka bottle, the pilot made a brief announcement to say - if the item was not handed over to cc immediately he would make an immediate return to Dublin where Gardai would be waiting at the gate. That did it ...

Given the problems it causes due the the irresponsibility of the stupid few, I'm all for banning consumption of alcohol on flights. I enjoy a glass of wine or a shot of whisky as much as anyone else, but I can do without it.


Agreed - time to ban alcohol on short haul flights for a start...

Ban alchohol and watch the folks in economy on their way to vacation start getting creative. You think airlines feel like a coach service now, just give that policy a couple months.

Ban alcohol and watch me and some other customers change airlines because of it. Some of us nuisances called passangers think a glass of wine with our food is a great thing, even if it's not gourmet.

The problem is binge drinking and attitudes toward alchohol, especially in Britain and the US. The issue is probably being handled fine as is right now - I wouldn't try to make it a real problem.

When I say problem I'm thinking of the following options, of course, all becoming more of a problem: :ouch: :suspect: :uhoh: :} :mad: :yuk:

So the drinks are too expensive which is the airline's fault. - and when they're free, the results are the CC's fault. It's tough to see how the business can win under that scenario. Interesting to note that whichever way the airline turns, it can not be the 'fault' of the individual customer involved, who of course has the freedom to choose whether to consume alcohol or not, and whether to get drunk or not.

Sorry to have to disagree Tightslot.

Just where did I say it can not be the fault of the individual customer involved? What I said was that I have seen CC give alcohol to customers that were very much the worse for wear. Just how does that line up with CC keeping an eye on customers to make sure they do not have too much?

WRT charging, yes it is a scam to charge $7 for an alcoholic drink. AF, BA etc seem to be able to offer a glass of wine with my meal, but the American airlines have to charge. Same route, same ticket price. I love a drink whilst flying but of course using my freedom to choose whether to pay or not, I go without.

RTB