According to the Washington Post, towards the end of September, both American and JetBlue modified their pre-flight announcements to include the new-to-me section about "personal alcohol." Delta also informs passengers that any alcohol not supplied by the flight crew is illegal under federal law, Frontier has "marked the issue," and Southwest has given its flight attendants permission to make similar announcements if necessary.
Because many major domestic carriers have temporarily ceased supplying liquor on flights due to an upsurge in rowdy (and sometimes violent) passenger behavior, those reminders have become necessary. Both American and Southwest have stated that hard alcohol sales will not resume until at least January 2022. "We are doing all we can to help create a safe environment for our crew and customers onboard our aircraft," In a letter written to its flight crew earlier this year, American stated.
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United, on the other hand, has decided to bring the booze back: on Monday, it began selling single-serve bottles of liquor on domestic, Canadian, and Latin American flights of at least 301 miles. During each beverage service, flight attendants are "instructed" to sell only one mini-bottle to guests, according to The Points Guy.
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"Our decision to bring back liquor was heavily informed by feedback from both our customers and employees," According to a United representative, "The incidence of unruly passengers is very low compared to our number of customers overall and is also low in comparison to what other U.S. carriers are seeing. With travel demand on the rise and the many safety protocols we have in place, particularly with our suite of contactless payment solutions, now felt like the right time to expand our inflight beverage menu."
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Bacardi Rum, Bailey's Irish Cream, Bombay Sapphire Gin, Buffalo Trace Bourbon, Dewar's White Label Scotch, Glenfarclas 12-Year Scotch, Jack Daniel's Tennessee Whiskey, and Wheatley Craft-Distilled Vodka are among the new booze selections available at United. Depending on the choices, prices range from $9 to $10 per bottle.
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Since January 1, flight attendants have reported approximately 5,110 occurrences involving rowdy passengers to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Last Monday, the FAA imposed fines totaling $225,287 for ten passengers who got violent during flights, including a $32,000 penalty for a Horizon Air passenger who acted aggressively and physically violently during a journey to San Francisco. She "threw trash at a flight attendant" and "snatched cookies from a nearby passenger" in addition to beating her husband and son.
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The FAA wrote to airport executives in August, requesting that they stop permitting their bars and restaurants to provide alcohol to go. Their efforts appear to be paying off (and those hefty fines certainly don't help). "The rate of unruly passenger incidents on commercial flights has dropped sharply since the FAA launched its Zero Tolerance campaign but the rate remains too high," the agency wrote last week. If everyone behaves well, perhaps more airlines will follow United's lead. Who wouldn't be willing to spend $10 for 1.7 ounces of Irish cream?
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