Southwest delays plans to serve alcohol as ‘unruly passenger’ problems increase
Southwest Airlines was set to resume alcohol sales on some flights next month but has now delayed the plan.
After an increase in incidents involving unruly passengers, Southwest Airlines is delaying resumption of in-flight alcohol service.
The airline, which stopped serving beverages early in the pandemic and has been phasing them back in, was planning to resume selling alcohol next month on Hawaii flights and in July on other flights.
The president of the union representing Southwest flight attendants had questioned the plan.
“Given the recent uptick in industrywide incidents of passenger disruptions in flight, we have made the decision to pause the previously announced restart of alcohol service,” Southwest spokesman Chris Mainz said Friday.
Mainz said the decision might disappoint some customers, “but we feel this is the right decision at this time in the interest of the safety and comfort of all customers and crew onboard.”
Incidents of passengers being unruly — ignoring crew members’ instructions, fighting and refusing to wear a mask — have been surging, according to the FAA.
The airline has not determined new dates for selling alcohol, Mainz said.
The president of the Southwest flight attendants’ union, Lyn Montgomery, said this week that there were 477 incidents of “misconduct” by passengers on Southwest planes between April 8 and May 15 and that her members were concerned about the airline’s plan to resume selling alcohol on flights.
Montgomery raised the issue after a passenger punched a flight attendant in the face on Sunday during a flight from Sacramento to San Diego. A 28-year-old woman faces a felony charge of battery, although a police report did not mention alcohol.
A video of the altercation appears to show the woman punching an attendant, who lost two teeth as a result, a union leader for airline employees said.
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