Booze At Altitude: The Messy Truth About Drinking On Planes

Shoes off, reclined seats tops pet peeves when traveling by plane

Among the top pet peeves among Americans traveling on planes are passengers reclining their seats, according to a survey by The Vacationer website.

• A passenger's excessive alcohol consumption on a flight raises questions about the responsibility of airlines to limit service.
• While some support drink limits on flights, the issue is complex due to alcohol's revenue contribution and passenger/airport bar sales.
• Although a federal law exists against serving intoxicated passengers, enforcement seems inconsistent.

Jodi Smith lost count of the number of rum and Cokes her seatmate ordered on a recent flight from Boston to Los Angeles. Was it five? Or six?

"He was a nervous flier," Smith remembered. "Old enough to order alcohol, but too young to make good decisions."

After the third drink, the passenger started slurring his words, so Smith made eye contact with the flight attendant who had been mixing the Cuba Libres. She gave her the look of, "Can you do something about this?"

"She just shrugged," Smith said.

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The flight didn't end well. For the sake of our family audience, let's just say it involved a lot of noise, agony and the discharge of bodily fluids.

Smith, an etiquette expert, still has one question about the incident. 

"In most states, bartenders are legally obligated not to overserve," she said. "Why doesn’t this also apply to those serving drinks in the air?"

She's not the only one asking. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary recently blamed most of the air rage incidents in Europe on overconsumption and suggested a two-drink limit at airport bars. Since then, there have been a string of embarrassing incidents involving alcohol on planes, including inebriated passengers, crewmembers, and even pilots. So as this summer rolls around, it's not so much a question of whether drink limits are a good idea – it's more an issue of what limits make sense.

A new survey by Global Rescue found that some travelers support limits on alcohol. About 1 in 5 passengers say airlines shouldn't serve more than one drink every 30 minutes, while 17% favored a limit of one an hour. A majority say serving alcohol should be left to the discretion of the crewmember or bartender.

Dan Richards, Global Rescue's CEO, said there was one takeaway, no matter how travelers voted. 

"While travelers should always be responsible for their consumption, airports and airlines also have a duty to ensure the safety of all passengers," he told me.

Imposing a drink limit sounds like an easy solution. While we're at it, maybe there should even be a federal law that would limit alcohol consumption on domestic flights. 

But this issue is surprisingly complex. For starters, alcohol is by far the biggest source of onboard revenue, so cutting off passengers would make a dent in the airline industry's profits. (During the pandemic, some airlines stopped serving alcohol amid an epidemic of in-flight violence, but they quickly resumed beverage service in an effort to reclaim lost revenue.)

It's common knowledge that limiting alcohol can improve the quality of the flight. Recent research by the University of Texas found that consuming alcohol was a "significant contributor" to passenger misconduct. And German researchers also discovered that drinking on planes can harm your health. But the problem is, neither passengers nor airlines want limits.

There's yet another layer of complexity. Many passengers board their flights already intoxicated because they've been hanging out at the airport bar. And those watering holes in the terminal selling overpriced cocktails would, of course, go out of business without nervous fliers who order a few drinks before their flights. So you can't just limit or ban drinking on a plane. You have to apply sensible rules to airports as well.

And if you were cheering for a new drink limit rule, consider this: there already is a federal law that limits alcohol consumption on planes. It forbids airlines from serving anyone who appears to be intoxicated or who has a deadly or dangerous weapon accessible to him, among other things. 

So why did Smith's seatmate get so many rum and cokes? Perhaps the flight attendant had to make her sales quota.

The decision about whether to drink or not on a plane is a personal one. Here are a few things to consider:

• Don't forget – you're on a plane. I know, it sounds obvious, but most people don't think about the effects of being in a pressurized cabin. "Unfortunately, sometimes the effects of alcohol don't show until the plane is in the air or the passenger has their next drink," said Beth Blair, a former flight attendant. She remembers serving a passenger a Bloody Mary – only one! – and the next thing she knew, he was knocking on the door of the flight deck, demanding to speak to the captain. "The FAA and FBI met our flight," she recalls. "There were severe consequences." 
• If you drink, do it in moderation. That's the consensus of the behavioral experts I talked to for this story. "If we get the little bottle of wine or beer in economy class with our meal, that should be enough," said etiquette expert Adeodata Czink. "No more alcohol than that. This way we would have our wine and there would be much less intoxication."
• You're really better off avoiding alcohol on flights. That's especially true if you take any prescription medications. "The vast majority of medical emergencies our team have been asked to intervene in with other passengers have involved alcohol," said Bob Bacheler, managing director of Flying Angels, a medical transportation service. "It's usually a combination of alcohol and sedatives. I can't stress how dangerous the combination of sedatives, alcohol and decreased cabin pressure is."

Ultimately, the choice is yours, of course. But ask yourself: Do you want to end up getting hauled off the plane in handcuffs, like the guy on Blair's flight? Maybe you can wait until you land to have that drink.

I've been writing about problem passengers since the 90s, and in almost all cases, alcohol is involved. Airlines have had plenty of warnings, from the drunken passenger who defecated on a meal cart to the epidemic of air rage during the pandemic. 

Take away the alcohol, and you remove some of the fuel that powers these outbursts of antisocial behavior. 

I've also seen the destruction alcohol can wreak on the ground. I've watched relationships get ripped apart, and I've lost friends to alcohol. And by "lose," I mean they are dead. It affected me so profoundly that I stopped drinking a decade ago. 

The debate over alcohol consumption on flights is more nuanced than it might initially seem. While limiting or banning alcohol could improve passenger behavior and reduce incidents of air rage, it's not a decision airlines can make lightly. After all, alcohol sales contribute significantly to their bottom line, and many passengers look forward to that glass of wine or cocktail during their flight. 

But the consequences of excessive drinking onboard – from unruly behavior to safety risks – can far outweigh the temporary pleasure of a drink.

Abstaining from alcohol while in the air is a simple and responsible choice. After all, a few hours without a drink isn't too much to ask. And for airlines, perhaps it’s time to prioritize passengers over profit and consider following the lead of carriers in the Middle East who have adopted a dry policy altogether.

Maybe the real question isn't whether alcohol should be limited on flights, but whether the convenience of a drink is worth the potential risks it brings to the flight experience. As for Jodi Smith’s seatmate, the rum-and-coke binge wasn’t just a bad decision – it was a reminder that when alcohol is involved, it’s not just the passengers who are at risk, but everyone onboard. 

So, the next time you’re flying, ask yourself: Is it really worth it?

Christopher Elliott is an author, consumer advocate, and journalist. He founded Elliott Advocacy, a nonprofit organization that helps solve consumer problems. He publishes Elliott Confidential, a travel newsletter, and the Elliott Report, a news site about customer service. If you need help with a consumer problem, you can reach him here or email him at chris@elliott.org.