I do remember on a Monarch flight to Malaga from Man circa 20 years ago where about 12-15 on a stag do.

Flight circa 60% full. Group spread all round close to back of plane.

Guy in charge said to passengers around they on stag, apologised well in advance for behaviour and suggested that if they wanted to swap with others on stag so they all in one place.

Everybody did including gorgeous BA trainer that sat and chatted to me all flight and never asked for her number :ugh:

The stag party drank and a bit loud / leery but even FA said they ok and had 2 who were in control.

Spoke to one of stag group waiting for bags and said thanks, he looked on being in control for a couple of hours as better than all getting chucked off flight. He claimed the deal all agreed was 2 in charge were in charge and ensured they all got there.

Now airlines flying stag / hens the option I like is find someone in charge and make it clear before flight takes off that will deny all boarding or cancel all if have to divert.

On this specific flight I think 48 hours held in custody and then released is a good option as they miss everything.

FR is not only one that has issues with Stag/Hens as everybody has.

Drunkeness on flight is not a LCC issue, its an airline issue for all.

ExXB, The legal powers of the aircraft commander take effect from doors closed.

Personal responsibility
 

The concept of personal responsibility needs to be taken into account. It could be free booze and they are still responsible for behaving like responsible members of society. Frankly, I'm appalled by your suggestion that these morons are somehow victims of circumstance and a weak will.

Probably get a better deal in a supermarket! :ok:

From the public point of view the era of romance has certainly left aviation for good. Aircraft and the personnel who fly them are sadly no more important these days than taxi drivers or bus drivers on the booze bus for the last lift home. Sad but true.

Often said but there is an enormous legal difference. Your taxi driver doesn't have the legal authority to tell you what to do; an aircraft commander does.

Maybe I'm just cynical but I highly doubt that any airline's true first priority is safety.

I would bet it is profit, and that for the most part they wouldn't care that much about safety if it wasn't so intrinsically linked by reputation to profit.



Also, Ryanair's statement of "not tolerating unruly or disruptive behaviour at any time" is clearly not true if the flight made it all the way to Germany... if they didn't tolerate it they'd have been denied boarding, or offloaded before departure

The bit on the BBC report that I suggest could be a cause for some concern as to what peoples priorities are these days is where the groom who accepts that his mates were wrong goes on to say that he is considering legal advice as it was wrongly reported in the German news that he was one of them which has caused distress to him and his family.
Maybe the disrupted passengers should consider legal advice against the stag party for the not inconsiderable distress they were subject to.

In the days when I had my own offshore business and in the days when Latvian banks were offshore I had a few business/banking trips to/from Riga.

Riga was a RYR destination, now I wonder why I knew exactly what sort of 'sex tourists' to expect on a RYR flight to a 'sex tourist' destination and why I alternatively chose to fly to/from Riga with KLM.

These punters opt for the cheapest of the cheap to such 'sex tourist' destinations and "shock, horror" when other punters may become rowdy.

They got what they paid for!

Just an armchair passenger but I was wondering under what country's legislation are these cases handled? Country of origin, destination, registration or over where it happened or where it diverted to? For example, a divert to Riyadh for drunkenness would probably add a few extra slashes to the deal?

Meanwhile a new Gin 'distillery' opens at LGW.........

Gin distillery at Gatwick Airport means fancy cocktails before you fly | Metro News

Say no more!

Mother's Ruin seems to be enjoying a renaissance. (Warning! Aviation content) Another new gin on the market is Shetland Reel. It is produced in the former supplies building of what was, until 2006, RAF Saxa Vord in Shetland.

Can someone let me know which loco airlines serve 'cheap alcohol'? The ones I travel on wear a mask and a striped jersey when pushing the drinks trolly:sad:

The one round trip I flew with RYR (only because they were the only airline to serve VST) the beer was warm and the sandwich was stale.

Who can blame punters for getting sh1tfaced in the terminal before boarding?

I think you'll find these days most pax are locals visiting family in the UK and vice versa.

Spain/Canaries are by far the worst in my experience. However, the thought of being nicked by either the French or Spanish police tends to sober people up fairly quickly when it is suggested they behave or else!

Doesn't F & J produce obnoxious drunkards or is it just a reaction to the occasional bedbugs?

Many a year ago I was airline Ops and I found myself training up a new (ex Servisair) Ops Controller.

He and I hit it off straight away and I'll never forget his words "The cheaper the fare the worse the passenger".

That was oh so true, in the UK IT world Spain, particularly the 2hr rather than 2hr 30min flights, were the worst, Corfu, rather than the likes of Kos and Rhodes, was another 'lager lout' destination ... and as for the Channel Islands ... well!

Of course these days we have airlines offering fares for stupid amounts of money ... They are their own worst enemy.

It's certainly a case of the destination rather than the airline. Fly Ryanair to Carcassonne, Bergamo etc and you'll be surrounded by 'nice people'. Fly certain other destinations and the same might not be true, regardless of the name on the side of the plane.

Fair point but if there are 10 or 15 of them and they're dressed as tarts I think we can deduce which category they fall into

Watch out ... Here comes another hen party:

http://www.thedrinksbusiness.com/wor...lead_large.jpg

A friend of mine just retired from Jet Airways in India. He told me the crew had a breathalyser test before every 1st sector. In France you need to carry a disposable one in your car. So they are available. Pax checked at the gate???????

'A friend of mine just retired from Jet Airways in India. He told me the crew had a breathalyser test before every 1st sector. In France you need to carry a disposable one in your car. So they are available. Pax checked at the gate???????'

Oh please no.
It's bad enough having to endure a long flight.
A couple of glasses of wine or a brace of spirit measures are not going to tip the vast majority of people over the edge.
We already have enough regulation that is dumbed down to the pond life level as it is.

In France one needs to carry a warning triangle, in case of breakdown, and a fire extinguisher in one's car also ... One needs to draw the line between driving a car every day and flying on holiday once or twice each year.

The implementation of that law has been suspended because the devices don't work.

Phileas : I agree with the destination/fare issue. I recall, Thursday night, Manch/ Gerona/ Manch, 18-30 club. Slept the nightmare off in the Excelsior. Friday saw me driving the 'Owners Abroad' lot to Funchal . Different universe.

In my experience the issue is no longer with cabin crews serving passengers too much alcohol, or even airport bars serving people too much, but with people actually pouring their duty free alcohol into soft drinks bottles so their innocent looking Coca Cola was actually an extremely strong vodka and Coke. When you are at the stage where the airport cleaners or handling agents are having to follow passengers into toilets because they have (often justified) suspicions they are decanting alcohol from its original container then you have to wonder about the direction society is moving!

It was all a joke guys, but some bit.

Fire extinguisher not mandatory.

Point of order/confusion - you don't need to carry a fire extinguisher in your car in France (you do in Belgium)....

(and FWIW ExXB is correct about the breathlysers )

The only saving grace on this report is that the distillery and shop are airside.

Gordomac, See your 'Owners Abroad' and raise you a group of Swan Hellenic cruise pax going to join their ship. Awfully cultured; not a string vest in sight ;)

Looking at the flight tracks for this route for the past week on flightradar, it appears that the route crosses Germany some distance north of HHN. The aircraft was already some way past HHN when the diversion started (near Erfurt/Weimar), therefore diverting to HHN would have meant having to turn back. SXF is not too far off the planned route and did not involve having to turn back. The track shown on flightradar indicates they were probably a bit closer to SXF than to HHN anyway, and SXF itself is closer to Bratislava than HHN is. Also, there is a police presence at SXF (this may also be true for HHN, I simply don't know as I have never been there) and it is a RYR base.

I was wondering, in an incident like this which involves a diversion, at what point are pax informed (a) that a decision has been made to divert, and (b) where they are going to? I.e., would the announcement just say "right, that's it, we're diverting", and only tell pax where they are after landing?

" I agree with the destination/fare issue. I recall, Thursday night, Manch/ Gerona/ Manch, 18-30 club "

Ah yes, the clientele of a tour operator beginning with C and ending in s perhaps ?.

Had an encounter one night whilst spannering when this group decided it was "good fun" to start bouncing around on the seats, removing the tables, or trying to, and then decided to "play" with the seat attachments on the floor rails.

The two drivers were quite happy for me to go and "discuss" matters with said clientele as indeed I did...working on the "BS baffles brains" principle as theirs were now well and truly pickled.

One politely pointed out that, whilst in the air, the aircraft was the responsibility of the Captain, on the ground it was mine...and did the ringleader know how much a replacement seat cost?...and the labour charges for an engineer ?....and had he heard of the A.N.O at all ? oh, and by the way, a Spanish nick isn't that comfortable....finally, using ones well honed diplomatic skills, one advised him in "hushed tones" to shut his gob and added something about a pubescent little txxt by way of conclusion.

Silence and harmony ensued thereafter.

Basil will doubtless confirm the diplomacy of F/E's, which one never was, but G/E's have the same intrinsic traits......;)

Concur! :E

Bas, ex marine eng.

This whole thing concerns me.

I love a drink. I won't die sober.

Certainly not on a flight.

So I have a couple of wines before a flight. Before a Ryanair flight I'll have a last one and be the last on the flight.

Not delaying the thing, of course, just sure to be that last in the queue at the rear door.

I do regular stints. My latest normal one is the return between Charlerois and Edinburgh. I emphasise that I am a drunk - one who wears a suit.

Two wines get me through the flight, or maybe a large G&T.

Planes aren't great places to drink. I can if needed drink before, during and after a flight.

Seems there is a compelling argument for drinking in order to fly, as flying is dangerous and those who have covenanted not to die unless inebriated must therefore ensure that they are totally sozzled when they are about to kiss goodbye to parts that are not normally accessible.

So I did a quick bit of googling about sobriety and aviation. This is what came up.

In the area of internal aerodynamics we concentrate on the flow of gases and liquids in confined spaces. In general cases, it is necessary to solve problems with medium compressibility, viscosity, turbulent behavior and other nonlinearities, which ranks the area to difficult subjects, not just to engineering applications. The aim of our optimization is usually to find a suitable channel shape for optimal gas flow, in order to meet defined requirements such as minimum pressure loss, maximizing the flow etc.

The above is a description of the services offered by Sobriety.

So now I understand why it is necessary to drink before, during and after flying and it is encouraging to find that something is being done about the difficulties it causes to the internals when it comes to drinking in the air.

Hic

@Giorgio73

not exactly the same situation but.....
As reported to me by a passenger on the unfortunate flight some years ago the a/c took off without any luggage on board due to a "problem".
Strange to report the Captain omitted to inform the passengers of this essential detail until they were well into the flight.
(It was a ski charter flight type so the hold luggage containing ski clothing, boots, gloves, goggles etc some skis and snowboards....is indeed pretty vital to the whole objective of the holiday).

Pretty obviously the crew knew that there would be a mutiny amongst the passengers requiring a return to base if it became known earlier so elected to "withhold" the info until so to speak it was too late to do anything
(well apart from buy/hire stuff at the destination and then argue it out in court afterwards).