US: DeFazio calls for end of ‘to-go’ alcohol sales in airports

The chairman of the US House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee is calling for airport bars to stop selling “to-go” alcoholic drinks, citing an uptick in the number of unruly passengers getting into altercations with airline staff. “There is no reason that a passenger should be able to leave a restaurant with a “to-go” cup of alcohol and board a plane with it,” Representative Peter DeFazio, an Oregon Democrat, said in remarks prepared for a Thursday hearing on the issue. So far this year, 4,385 incidents of disruptive passengers have been reported, including 3,199 that were related to pandemic requirements that flyers wear masks. Nearly 800 of the episodes were deemed serious enough to warrant investigations, according to the FAA. Even with four months remaining in 2021, such inquiries already number more than twice as many as any previous year. “While alcohol may not always be the primary instigator in some of these confrontations, adding gratuitous alcohol to a violent situation certainly exacerbates the problem and subsequent danger to flight crews and the traveling public,” DeFazio said in his remarks. Among the witnesses scheduled to appear before his committee are Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants, and Christopher Bidwell, the senior vice president for safety at Airports Council International, North America.<br/>