Amid the headline-making, eyeball-grabbing incident of an inebriated man urinating on his female co-passenger in an international Air India flight, many fliers are now questioning whether liquor should be served at all on board. A survey found that 48 percent of fliers wanted a ban on serving liquor onboard international flights, while 89 percent demanded new safeguards against risks involving unruly behaviour.
According to the survey, conducted by community social media platform LocalCircles, 50 percent respondents said all passengers should be required to mandatorily give an undertaking about not boarding the flight in an inebriated state, while 32 percent said they should give an undertaking about not consuming personal liquor on board.
The survey showed that 40 percent respondents want boarding agents or staff to be authorised to conduct a breathalyser test and “reject boarding” based on predefined parameters.
Concerns have grown after incidents – one in November and another in December last year – of intoxicated men urinating on fellow passengers were reported onboard international flights from India. It has once again put the spotlight on unruly behavior, putting a question mark on the safety of other passengers.
More importantly, it has also raised a debate on whether liquor should be served at all onboard international flights. Fliers have also raised questions about safeguards to be put in place to prevent inebriated passengers from boarding flights and consuming liquor on board.
LocalCircles conducted its survey based on some of the issues being discussed in wake of the Air India urinating incident. There have been accusations that the Tata Group airline handled the situation improperly and also failed to take immediate action on the aggrieved 70-year-old woman’s complaint in the November incident.
The survey asked questions about whether alcohol should be served on international flights, to which close 48 percent responded in the affirmative. “This behaviour is not restricted to any specific class of passengers as both economy and business class passengers have been reported to have indulged in such antisocial acts,” stated an aviation sector report, which in part blamed the privileges provided in frequent flyer lounges and some airlines advertising champagne bars, top-shelf spirits, and bespoke cocktails.
Many fliers want the central government’s intervention as 89 percent supported putting in place safeguards against such unruly behaviour. One out of two respondents indicated that “all passengers should mandatorily give an undertaking about not boarding the flight in an inebriated state”. Others even said boarding gate staff should be allowed to conduct breathalyser tests and take action as per predefined rules. This is, however, not the first time that the Centre has been urged to look into this aspect of airline safety and passenger comfort.
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