No alcohol sales on Economy flight till January 2022 ─American

*US Federal Aviation Administration urges airports to help in bringing awareness to this prohibition on passengers carrying open alcohol onboard their flights through signage, public service announcements, and concessionaire education

*Aviation regulator’s latest tally of fines for unruly air travellers onboard is over $1 million mark

Isola Moses | ConsumerConnect

If you are flying anywhere in the Economy class on American Airlines anytime soon and think you would like to have a cocktail, better think again. Why?

The airline has decided to suspend all alcohol sales in Economy through January 2022, though American’s original ban was set to end September this year, agency report said.

ConsumerConnect gathered besides American Airlines’ extension of the alcohol sales ban on Economy flights, the only other US airline banning alcoholic beverages is Southwest Airlines.

The airline’s ban is of its own choosing, but with the continued onslaught of penalties against airline passengers for alleged unruly behaviour, many involving alcoholic beverages, American is taking no chances, report stated.

Stacey Frantz, American’s Senior Manager of Flight Service Policies and Procedures, in announcing the continued suspension of alcohol sales said: “We are doing all we can to help create a safe environment for our crew and customers onboard our aircraft.”

FAA urges airports to help end alcohol to-go sales

Meanwhile, Frantz has informed consumers that the airline is “gaining ground” in its push to get the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to cease alcohol to-go sales at airports it flies in and out of, including its hubs in Dallas and Charlotte, USA Today report said.

While the FAA has yet to mandate an across-the-board ban on alcohol sales, the alcohol to-go situation is a huge concern for the agency.

Earlier in August, the FAA sent a letter to airports requesting they work to prevent passengers from bringing “to-go” cups of alcohol aboard the aircraft.

Even though FAA regulations specifically prohibit the consumption of alcohol aboard an aircraft that is not served by the airline, we have received reports that some airport concessionaires have offered alcohol ‘to go,’ and passengers believe they can carry that alcohol onto their flights or they become inebriated during the boarding process,” read the agency’s letter.

The FAA stated: “Airports can help bring awareness to this prohibition on passengers carrying open alcohol onboard their flights through signage, public service announcements, and concessionaire education.”

In a related development, the Federal Aviation Administration’s latest tally of fines for unruly air passengers has eclipsed the $1 million dollar mark.

The agency announced Thursday in the week, that it levied another $531,545 against 34 passengers for allegedly acting up on a flight.

Since the beginning of the year, the FAA has had close to 4,000 reports of unruly passenger behavior, including nearly 3,000 reports filed regarding passengers refusing to comply with the federal facemask mandate, report noted.

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