Drunk in the Air on American Airlines

You can get bombed on a plane but can't say bomb on a plane. The
insanity of it all.

Too many people believe that flight attendants are waiters and
waitresses in the sky. They're NOT. Their primary mandate--by FAA
regulation--is the safety of passengers. Passengers who are drunk and
disorderly pose a risk to themselves and other passengers. Not only is
it advisable, they are REQUIRED to deny alcohol to passengers who are
intoxicated. If this causes the passenger to be even more disruptive,
they can be detained and can and will be arrested upon arrival. If the
disruption becomes too great, the pilot must land at the nearest
suitable facility and turn the passengers over to law enforcement.

The OP did nothing wrong here. He reacted when the flight attendants
were not doing their job, and obviously were miffed that he questioned
their mishandling of the situation.

I now return you to regularly scheduled flaming of the OP.

I dont think you should be so worried about what others are drinking.
They are paying customers too, and I know that having a few drinks on
a flight makes the flight much more tolerable. Yes, you should have
been minding your own business, in that aspect. It's not your place to
decide how much others should be drinking.

I do agree with you that the attendants should have handled this a
little more professionally. If the passengers were being loud and
disruptive, then that IS a problem, and their behaviour needs to be
addressed. And you should not have been ignored throughout your
flight. But, if you are going to give someone an attitude, expect an
attidude back. I'm going by your letter, and it appears to me that you
did not politely ask the attendants to ask the passengers to keep it
down; you rudely implied that he was not doing his job correctly.

I think you're leaving an aweful lot of information out of this story.

Outlaw alcohol on planes. Nuff said.

KEY point you made was "lowering the backs of their seats." Not yours
but theirs. That is the way the plane is made.

As far as opening the overhead you are allowed to do this at certain
times during the flight.

It would be annoying to have drunks around you in a plane though.

I think by involving yourself and confronting the flight attendants
you made yourself more a part of the problem than the solution.

Probably all they were trying to do was to get everyone to sit down
and shut up. Even though your intentions may have been well-meaning,
unfortunately that meant you too.

It's really a shame what you went through the problems and also with
not receiving a drink. But why should the steward be disciplined for
passengers stupidity? While I understand they were being disruptive
and loud (Which would annoy me), theres nothing the steward can do
about it. They asked for drinks, he served them their drinks(though I
don't know why they were receiving free drinks but thats not my
business) I would be angry at the passengers,they are responsible for
their actions, not at the steward.People seem to be obnoxious on
airplanes, the passengers should apologize.

And if they indeed said "none of your business,keep your nose out of
it", then they are pretty rude, they could have said it in a
professional way. But it was really none of your business to even ask
that question. Something tells me there is more to this story.

It's really a shame what you went through the problems and also with
not receiving a drink. But why should the steward be disciplined for
passengers stupidity? While I understand they were being disruptive
and loud (Which would annoy me), theres nothing the steward can do
about it. They asked for drinks, he served them their drinks(though I
don't know why they were receiving free drinks but thats not my
business) I would be angry at the passengers,they are responsible for
their actions, not at the steward.People seem to be obnoxious on
airplanes, the passengers should apologize.

And if they indeed said "mind your own business", then they are pretty
rude, they could have said it in a professional way.. because you
really had no business to ask that question. Something tells me there
is more to this story.

Let's hope whoever recieves this letter is not African American. A
decent letter will probably never get the attention it otherwise
should have.

As someone who has flown under the influence (as a passenger, mind
you, not a pilot!) on more than one occasion, I agree with you. I've
never been loud of disruptive -- I just read or do crossword puzzles
while I sip my cocktails ($5 each! ouch!).

I do believe that I've read that there are federal laws similar to
state dram shop laws when it comes to airlines and the dispensing of
alcohol, and that technically, being intoxicated on a plane is a
crime, just as it is if you're walking down the street.

I suspect they were served because the commotion they would cause if
their line of booze were cut off wouldn't be worth it.

But I agree with you on pretty much everything.

Except that last paragraph/line. After a well-written letter, what
the heck was that? Did you do some shots before writing it?

Well, I don't know what kind of plane you flew on, but JFK to W. Palm
Beach is NOT a short flight. It's at LEAST 2 hours from CLE
(Cleveland) where I am to TPA (Tampa) where my Mom is. JFK and WPB
are further out than that!

While I am really shocked that with all the restrictions on flights
these days that this was even permitted to happen, I have to ask how
this is different from a bar? They paid for the drinks (to your
knowledge. The additional ones you claimed they were given you have
no proof of) and the airline has no clue what their plans are once
they disembark. How can they legally restrict someone from leaving an
aircraft intoxicated? For all they know, these clowns will stumble
into a cab and off to a hotel somewhere.

This is what bothers me - the whole blame game. If someone decides to
drink until they are so impaired that they can't walk a straight line,
let alone drive a car, but they decide to drive anyway, the only
person responsible is THEM. Not Coors, not the bar that served him
nor the manufacturer of the car. The drunk one is the ONLY one
responsible.

Maybe if more people took responsibility for their OWN actions, we
wouldn't feel the need to hold everyone else accountable when they
fail!

Is this your MLK tribute? Recognizing that she was African-American?
See, when people throw little bits of themself in a letter like you
did, I completely stop caring about annything else you have to say.