For many Americans, despite the time of day, the ritual of going on vacation often starts with a beer at the airport. In fact, it’s not unusual to see groups of vacationers sinking bottles of beer or liquor before midday. There are of course plenty of opportunities along the way, starting with the local airport bar, to an in-flight beer and of course, drinks on arrival in the hotel room minibar. However, we’ve all read stories in the news and on social media of airplane passengers having to be dragged off flights by security because they’ve been a little too over-served.
AmericanAddictionCenters.org wanted to find out vacationers’ views on drinking while flying. Let’s not forget that being in the air can accelerate or enhance the effects of alcohol on the body, which many passengers can be unaware of.
They surveyed 3,100 people and the main finding was that more than half of American vacationers (59%) actually do think limits should be put in place on the amount of alcohol people can drink on flights. Women (67%) felt more strongly about this than men (56%).
Surprisingly, more than a third (38%) of respondents think alcohol on flights should be banned altogether! While this may not be popular with all passengers, it could certainly lead to a decrease in in-flight incidents – 41% believe banning alcohol would decrease the number of in-flight arguments, particularly about non-compliant mask-wearers.
Nearly half (40%) believe that it would be a good idea to ban hard liquor on flights, though concede weaker drinks such as beer and wine would be fine, while 13% of Americans admit to having been drunk on a flight on at least one occasion.
Finally, the study from AmericanAddictionCenters.org found one-third start their vacation drinking on the flight, rather than waiting until they get to their vacation destination.
