Domestic flights are now in demand after more than a year into the pandemic. Unfortunately, the spike in the number of passengers also brought problems for flight attendants and crew. Recently, there’s a surge in the number of violent passengers on board. In reaction to this trend, both American Airlines and Southwest postponed their plans to serve alcohol during flights.
The decision to not serve alcohol from both airlines happened after a video of a woman punching a flight attendant in a Southwest Airlines flight circulated online. The flight attendant lost two teeth from the assault.
The passenger was identified as 28-year-old Vyvianna Quinonez. After the incident, she was charged with battery causing serious bodily harm and was banned on Southwest flights for life.
Mask Mandates and Zero Tolerance Policy
Since January, the Federal Aviation Administration logged 2,500 cases of unruly passengers. This includes 1,900 cases of passengers who refuse to wear their masks, despite the existing federal mask mandate.
According to the FAA, the agency used to not worry about the number of unruly passengers. That’s because the number of cases was fairly consistent over the years. However, the pandemic made things worse. The agency received a “significant increase” in reported cases involving unruly passengers starting early 2020.
Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants said that “we have just never seen anything like this”.
American and Southwest Airlines Refuse to Serve Alcohol
Southwest said that their move to not serve alcohol may be “disappointing for some customers”. However, they “feel it to be the right decision now in the interest of safety and comfort of all onboard”.
American followed Southwest’s decision to not serve alcohol on board as it made its own announcement on Saturday. American said that they’ve suspended alcohol sales since March 2020 and will remain suspended until September 13, the same day the federal mask mandate expires.
American announced that “alcohol can contribute to atypical behavior from customers onboard and we owe it to our crew not to potentially exacerbate what can already be a new and stressful situation for our customers”.
