Southwest, American airlines to suspend selling of alcoholic beverages

WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW:

• Southwest Airlines and American Airlines announced that they will continue to suspend serving alcoholic beverages following incidents of passenger misconduct.
• Southwest Airlines recorded over 477 unruly passenger cases between April 8 and May 15.
• American Airlines was planning to resume selling alcohol in the main cabin once the federal mask mandate is lifted in September.

Following a surge of passenger incidents on board and a recent assault against a flight attendant, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines announced that they are halting providing alcoholic beverage services.

In a May 24 letter from Southwest flight attendants’ union president Lyn Montgomery to CEO Gary Kelly, the former said that a flight attendant sustained physical injuries to her face and lost two teeth following an attack from a passenger.

Per Montgomery, there were at least 477 recorded passenger misconduct cases on Southwest flights from April 8 to May 15.

According to a Southwest representative, there is “no timetable” on when selling of alcoholic beverages would restart. The company was considering resuming its alcohol sales for flights to Hawaii next month, and in July for longer domestic US flights.

“As alcohol sales are added back into this already volatile environment, you can surely understand our concern,” Montgomery wrote in the letter. 

Meanwhile, American Airlines announced that it would not offer alcoholic beverages in the main cabin until September 13, the date when the mask mandate is scheduled to expire. For now, it will only sell alcoholic beverages in first and business class during flights only.

“Over the past week we’ve seen some of these stressors create deeply disturbing situations on board aircraft… Let me be clear: American Airlines will not tolerate assault or mistreatment of our crews,” American Airlines managing director of flight service Brady Byrnes said in a note to flight attendants.

“We also recognize 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,” Byrnes added.

The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that it received over 2,500 passenger misconduct reports. About 1,900 of such incidents involved travelers who deviate from wearing face masks despite the federal mask mandate especially while on-board.

Airline companies were little-by-little, attempting to return back its meal snack and beverage offering which had been suspended because of the COVID-19 pandemic.

While the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention had already advised that fully-vaccinated Americans can already go maskless in public, the White House still mandates air travelers to wear face masks during transit, or when at the airport, or at the train or bus station.

Source: CNBC.com