Why I think it’s time to ban alcohol on flights

Sometimes I think flight attendants are true heroes. On the first leg of a Qatar Airways flight to Cambodia last year I found myself seated next to a man who steadily drank his way through a couple of beers and a whiskey, becoming increasingly loud and obnoxious, grabbing at my arm and trying to start conversations. Noticing my growing discomfort, a flight attendant swooped in. She quickly located an empty seat between two women, and calmly moved my belongings for me so I could slip away to my new spot with no fuss.

I thought back to how grateful I’d been for her swift and efficient response when, earlier this week, we reported on an aggressive and unpleasant passenger on a British Airways flight. The incident on the plane went viral, with the passenger who filmed it praising the flight attendant for handling the incident firmly, calmly and with poise. This man wasn’t simply being rowdy; his behaviour descended into shouting, vicious swearing and pushing. Despite covering these sorts of stories again and again, it still shocks me that this is what flight attendants have to deal with while carrying out their jobs.

Unfortunately, incidents like these are all too common. Although rates of unruly passengers actually fell slightly last year compared to 2024, when one incident was reported in every 307 flights, according to the International Air Transport Association (Iata), there was still one incident involving an unruly or disruptive passenger for every 355 flights in 2025.

A few months ago our senior travel writer Natalie Wilson spent a day training as a flight attendant with British Airways, getting a taste of the safety procedures, service and aircraft knowledge that staff have to learn over the course of a six-week intensive course. As much as I enjoyed watching the video of her using a mini fire extinguisher, inflating her life jacket and trying to navigate the aisle with a wayward drinks trolley, I was most interested to learn about the crucial role that flight attendants play in our safety, and the training they have to undergo to handle disruptive passengers.

There’s no denying the common denominator in incidents of air rage tends to be alcohol. Earlier this year, Ryanair boss Michael O’Leary called for a ban of drinking before flights, prompting a slew of opinion pieces complaining that the morning pint was a tradition and part of our culture. I’ve got to say, I err on the side of O’Leary for this one (something I don’t often say). I’m not averse to a glass of sauvignon blanc before a flight or even an airport pint at Wetherspoons, but it’s something I would happily forgo if it meant we could all be safer in the sky. It would be a shame to deny passengers – the vast majority of whom can have a drink or two (or three or four) responsibly – a pre-flight tipple, but I do also vehemently believe that no flight attendant should ever have to tackle potential violence at 35,000 feet. Not to mention the distress caused to other passengers when a passenger becomes aggressive, disruptive or violent, and the cost of flight diversions.

The main issue here is enforcement – short of breathalysers at the gate or treating flying like driving with a strict limit, there’s not really an effective way to police that 10am pint. What makes more sense to me is to do away with in-flight booze. I appreciate a couple of drinks can make a flight more tolerable, but surely we can all manage a few hours in the air without the need to crack open a cold one or sip on a mediocre Chardonnay? And as sad as I feel for those Business Class passengers denied their glass of bubbly, I think they’ll probably cope.

Get the Travel Insider newsletter

Travel Insider is The Independent’s twice-weekly travel newsletter, packed with insight, inspiration and trusted advice to help you explore better.

It is your guide to planning smarter journeys: from finding the best low-impact ways to get around to choosing destinations that benefit local communities.

Each Friday and Sunday, you’ll receive a curated digest of the biggest developments in travel, along with unbeatable deals, destination ideas, and expert tips on where, when and how to go.

To sign up, simply enter your email address in the box at the top of this article.

You can also head to our newsletter preference centre to sign up for the email.