Do airlines regularly deny boarding to those they suspect of being intoxicated?

[JoseB]

On the other hand, a friend of mine saw first hand (well, not “first hand”, but allow me a bit of poetic license ) what happens if drunkenness goes totally unchecked.

This good friend of mine worked for the International Airport of Barcelona (El Prat) in land duties (“driving” the “fingers” at the gates for boarding and deplaning, etc.) and he told me the following story.

There was apparently an Ukranian plane that had to perform an emergency landing in El Prat. Emergency services ready, and also a lot of police and law enforcement were called. I don’t remember where the plane was coming from and where it was going. Only that the captain decided to land in El Prat.

It transpired that there was a full-on riot in the airplane while it was in the air (!!!). It seems that the passengers had smuggled horrendously copious amounts of strong alcohol on board, and the majority got beyond drunk with their own liquor. And began fighting among themselves. Some of them pulled knives. It was horrible, it seems. The crew was unable to do anything.

The captain landed in Barcelona (after telling what was happening to the control tower, of course) and when the plane stopped, the police basically took it by assault. It seems that at least 70% of the passengers were stinking drunk and fighting. The remainder of the passengers and the crew were huddling as far as possible from the rioters, in both ends of the plane (the plane was not full).

Anyway, a lot of people were taken into custody and a few also had to be taken to hospital. It must have been horrible.

[chappachula]

Other than drunks, what about obnoxious behavior in general?
Are there any official policies to keep such people off the plane?

I once saw an incident where a very aggitated woman was screaming violently at the ticket clerks to let her on the plane. (According to her claims, which I and a million aother people waiting near the gate had no choice but to hear) she held a valid ticket, but her connecting flight had arrived late, so it wasn’t her fault that she had reached the gate late. (Apparently, the door was shut and plane was ready for taxi and take off.) She demanded–in screams, tears and incoherent yelling-- that they re-open the doors to let her board.
At one point, the ticket person told her that he wouldn’t let her board in her present condition because her behavior was “unstable” or “beligerent” or some such wording.

Do the airline employees receive training on how to handle a situation like this?
It seems like it would be hard to define legally unacceptable behavior. And in today’s politically correct world and it would expose the airline to lawsuits, especially if the passenger who they refuse to allow on board is an ethnic minority.

[friedo]

The captain and flight crew have absolute discretion in whom they allow to board. Anybody acting belligerent, annoying, obnoxious, smelling weird, or looking shifty can be denied boarding and frequently are.

[md2000]

@chappachula

Other than drunks, what about obnoxious behavior in general?
Are there any official policies to keep such people off the plane?

I once saw an incident where a very aggitated woman was screaming violently at the ticket clerks…

OTOH I was on a smaller Air Canada plane where the flight attendant moved a lady (older, seemed somewhat infirm) from her economy seat to a first-class seat for some trivial reason, after the doors had closed. Some guy decided this was not right, and complained (not very loudly, not very agitated) to the stewardess about it. Maybe he wanted to opportunity to move up. Anyway, she politely informed him that she was authorized to make the move, and why or whether she did it was not for him to discuss or argue. From what I could see and hear, it was relatively polite. No yelling.

Then she excused herself, got the props and started the safety demonstration. In the middle of it, he interrupted her to resume the discussion that she had no right to move that person, he was going to complain to her bosses, he had paid his ticket too why should that lady be special. She politely told him to be quiet and let her finish the demo. A few sentences later, he resumed the argument.

At no time did either actually raise their voices significantly. However, when he resumed the argument, she turned around, walked into the cockpit, and then they announced we were returning to th gate to unload an unruly passenger. two large male stewards came on to escort him off; he tried to tell them he would behave and he did not want to leave, but he had no choice.

I don’t think the guy was drunk; he didn’t look it. he just seemed to be one of these crabby, bossy, argumentative types who did not like to see anyone else get something he could have gotten. the argument was never loud or physical - but he did interrupt the flight attendant (twice) during a legally required speech, and would not drop the topic when told to.

I had no sympathy for him, i doubt anyone else on the flight did either. I wonder if he’s learned not to do that any more…?

[Quartz]

@JoseB

It seems that the passengers had smuggled horrendously copious amounts of strong alcohol on board, and the majority got beyond drunk with their own liquor.

I’ve heard a similar tale, probably on Pprune, where it didn’t get to the fight stage: when things got rowdy, the pilots decompressed the passenger cabin slightly, which caused the passengers to fall asleep.

[Simple_Linctus]

@Quartz

I’ve heard a similar tale, probably on Pprune, where it didn’t get to the fight stage: when things got rowdy, the pilots decompressed the passenger cabin slightly, which caused the passengers to fall asleep.

That would have made them drunker, wouldn’t it? I thought that was the main problem with drinking and flying (that you get intoxicated much quicker at high altitude).

[kayaker]

All the unruly drunks give us good drunkards a bad name.

[Quartz]

@Confused dart cum

That would have made them drunker, wouldn’t it? I thought that was the main problem with drinking and flying (that you get intoxicated much quicker at high altitude).

Too little oxygen, OTOH and you tend to pass out.

[D-bear]

[QUOTE=ChickenLegs]
D-bear, I don’t know where you or your employees work, but if they saw me, they failed.
[/QUOTE]

This is a very difficult issue for us to deal with. Far too many of my group are not willing to confront issues. The majority of the drunks I have to deal with as a Ground Security Coordinator (as a manager) are pulling drunks off after they have boarded. The flight attendants are better at having them pulled off then my gate agents are about letting them board. It’s far more difficult to get them off an A/C them not letting them into the Jetway. But the F/A’s know what the potential is for a drunk going ballistic and the issues for making an immediate diversion.

[QUOTE=grude]
Thanks, if you don’t mind my asking what standard did you usually apply?
Or what exactly could count as appearing intoxicated, could even a tired person be denied?
[/QUOTE]

FAR part 121.575 (b) (1) only states that we are required to deny persons who appear intoxicated. In our training video, my airline has an actor with red glassy eyes, who displays trouble focusing, one who has the smell of alcohol, one who is stumbling and slurring their speech. We train the CSA that a passenger needs to be displaying more than one sign of intoxication before denying them. There are sleep deprivation issues, as you mentioned, and some diabetic people are not intoxicated and they will naturally produce the smell of alcohol. Denying a diabetic boarding due to an alcohol smell will end up with a lawsuit for violating the Americans with disabilities act. If a gate agent feels a passenger is displaying two or more triggers, they call a Ground Security Coordinator (A supervisor or higher) and the GSC evaluates the situation. If the GSC agrees the person appears intoxicated, we pull him off.

With inflight… There is no GSC input. They want a person off the A/C, off they come. We can appeal if we think the person is tired, or diabetic, but they have the final say as to who gets sealed into that metal tube with them and the other passengers they are responsible for, end of story.

[QUOTE=MPB in Salt Lake]
If an airline denies boarding to someone who seems liquored up, what (if anything) do they have to provide to the would-be passenger as far as compensation for the missed flight goes?
[/QUOTE]

If a person is not aboard an aircraft for any reason aside from mechanical or crew issues they are not compensated. Acts of God or reasons within a passenger’s control will get absolutely no comp. That being said, there were numerous times when I would push out a meal voucher to help someone get food and coffee into them so they could sober up enough to get on the next available flight. By policy we were only to allow an intox stand-by on the next flight, but we would confirm them on the next open flight, and “stand them by” on any full flights that were earlier than whatever we were able confirm them on. For example if we pulled someone off the 2pm flight, and could only confirm them at 8pm, we would confirm them at 8, and let them stand by at 4pm and 6pm so they had a “for sure seat” later and a couple of chances to get on earlier flights.

Many of the people who I have denied due to intox were not Spring Break Woo Girls. So many had heart breaking stories. Death in the family, devastated needs to get home, had a beer before getting to the airport and another drink or two at the bar while waiting to board type stories. We would break our backs to help these types when it was obviously true. Again this required some level of judgment. We would get sob stories from someone trying to scam their way past the Regulation.

Oh and one final note. None of this is an “Airline Policy.” It’s a Federal Regulation. There are real consequences for the company if you’re caught in violation of this regulation. We have zero wiggle room if we get caught.

[BlankSlate]

@jtgain

This. I’ve boarded hundreds of planes pretty well shitfaced. I wasn’t to the point where I was falling down, vomiting on other passengers, or being obnoxious and loud, but if anyone observed me, it would have been obvious that I had tossed back a few.

Business attire?

[HeyHomie]

@kayaker

Along with alcohol I usually eat a couple brownies (I don’t drink on an empty stomach).

I’m not asking facetiously-- I genuinely want to know: by “brownies” do you mean “pot brownies”? The reason I ask is because I’m contemplating munching a special brownie an hour or so before my next flight, whenever the hell that may be. I’d like to know if flying high (heh) is mellow and awesome, or a recipe for a freak-out.

[kayaker]

@HeyHomie

I’m not asking facetiously-- I genuinely want to know: by “brownies” do you mean “pot brownies”? The reason I ask is because I’m contemplating munching a special brownie an hour or so before my next flight, whenever the hell that may be. I’d like to know if flying high (heh) is mellow and awesome, or a recipe for a freak-out.

Absolutely positively heaven. YMMV, tho. But for me,

eta: my MO involves consumption immediately before going through security. In the novel I am writing, of course.

[Broomstick]

@grude

Well it is one thing to deny boarding to people obviously intoxicated or drunk, and another to be literally hunting for them in the terminal. I mean there is nothing about them that would indicate they were intoxicated, I see loopier looking people at the grocery.

Yeah, but you can’t smell booze on TV. I’ve been in airports next to people who smell like they rolled in a bottle of cheap wine or a case of beer.

Keep in mind those programs aren’t going to show routine, uneventful boarding episodes because that’s not interesting enough to hold the viewers. Drunks are probably the most common problem passenger for the airlines, thus, you see a lot of them in a program like this.

What about people with a fear of flying who have to take sedatives to get on the plane?

If they’re behaving no problem. If they cause disruption they can be denied boarding.

I mean hell plane tickets are expensive, I’d be terrified to buy them with a airline that is that paranoid.

I find it reassuring that an airline won’t board problems

The show follows Southwest Airlines which I believe only serves domestic flights, are they unusually vigilant? Is it just domestic flights?

So far as I know all airlines are like that, it’s just that Southwest allowed filming. Not just domestic flights, this would also apply to international flights on US airlines.

[D-bear]

I forgot to make one additional point. A flight plan is filed to go from point A to point B. If someone who is intoxicated gets angry because the F/A cuts him off, gets into a fight with someone they are traveling with, starts screaming at the people behind them because their brat won’t stop screaming and/or kicking their seat, or becomes agitated because inroute weather has slowed their flight to the point that they are going to miss a connection or any of a thousand things that sets someone under the influence off, we are now diverting to point C…

If a diversion is called for for the safety of passengers or crew, their is considerable expense incurred. If it is to an airport that we fly to, there is ground crew and a gate available, but there are now landing fees to pay, facility charges to pay, usually fuel to be added so the A/C has enough to take off and burn to arrive (A lot of fuel is consumed to get the A/C back off the ground.) And new flight plans have to be filed and approved. (You don’t even want to know what a mess it can turn out to be if the flight lands heavy, or hard, or God forbid it hits a bird on the way down. One of our diverts for a medical got stuck in a hail storm and had damaged slats. A NIGHTMARE!)

If it is after hours and the diversion is to a facility that is not one of our destinations, the costs multiply, plus you have to hope there is a gate and crew trained to park the jetway at our particular A/C type. The procedures do vary from A/C to A/C.

When the flight is landing the Captain calls for Law Enforcement to meet the flight for an intox removal. This automatically alerts the Government that there is a violation of FAR121.575 and in addition to the overall cost of the divert there will be fines levied.

If this happens, as a CS manager I begin an investigation. Every boarding pass is scanned by the agent at the door. They log into the computer with their agent sine and it’s not hard to figure out who allowed a drunk onto the A/C. We don’t fire people for just doing this, but I can tell you that this issue has been “the straw that broke the gate agent’s back,” and resulted in more than one termination that I have proceeded over. I don’t know the exact procedure used for the F/A group, but I do know that the “A” flight attendant is investigated in a similar manner as to why the person was allowed across the threshold of the A/C if they cause a divert.

As I said earlier, gate agents will roll the dice and let someone borderline on rather than have to deal with a confrontation, so YMMV but I know that airlines take this issue seriously and from a management point of view there is zero tolerance.

[Washoe]

I’d still like to know the answer to the question that was asked upstream—what about people who require anxiolytic medication to fly? I know lots of people who pop a Xanax before getting on a plane; they have prescriptions specifically for this purpose. How is this issue addressed?

[Ludovic]

@Quartz

Too little oxygen, OTOH and you tend to pass out.

I read this as “Too little oxygen, ETOH and you tend to pass out.” Or with too much ETOH as well.

[RearEchelon]

@Washoe

I’d still like to know the answer to the question that was asked upstream—what about people who require anxiolytic medication to fly? I know lots of people who pop a Xanax before getting on a plane; they have prescriptions specifically for this purpose. How is this issue addressed?

I don’t think there’s anything to address. I personally have never seen anyone on Xanax or Valium or something of the like act in a disruptive manner (unless alcohol was also involved). I know if I worked on an airline I would be happier if everyone on the flight would take an anti-anxiety before boarding. I think the provision for excluding someone “visibly intoxicated” is not to keep drunks from flying, it’s to keep potential disruptions and violent incidents off the plane. Someone under the influence of an anti-anxiety is hardly going to be a disruption. If for some reason they are, they will likely be prevented from flying, regardless of prescriptions.

As far as the OP, so-called “reality” shows are usually nothing of the sort. I would assume anything you see on one of them is at best an exaggeration, or situation and at worst a complete and utter falsehood.

[D-bear]

@Washoe

I’d still like to know the answer to the question that was asked upstream—what about people who require anxiolytic medication to fly? I know lots of people who pop a Xanax before getting on a plane; they have prescriptions specifically for this purpose. How is this issue addressed?

Passengers are required to be able to evacuate themselves or buy a ticket for an attending assist. If someone needs to be sedated to fly an attendant is required. Passengers who are on medication as prescribed by a physician for any medical or psychological condition are not to be denied boarding.

This same rule applies to any animal assisting in any manner. Physical or psychological. You’d be amazed at the number of Paris Hilton types flying from LA to Aspen who needed emotional support animals in order to fly. No vest or documentation was needed. In fact, when the HIPPA laws were passed, we were strictly forbidden to ask about any medical or psychological need for such accommodations.

You’d have to be on one hell of a dose of Xanax before we denied you or made you have an attendant.

[Washoe]

Got it—both good answers, and I figured that the answer to the question must be something along those lines. It was the remark in the OP about the food court employee that got me wondering. A dose of Xanax large enough to put you in a happy place will also make a person appear somewhat ‘spacey’ and inattentive.

[D-bear]

@chappachula

Other than drunks, what about obnoxious behavior in general?
Are there any official policies to keep such people off the plane?

I once saw an incident where a very aggitated woman was screaming violently at the ticket clerks to let her on the plane. (According to her claims, which I and a million aother people waiting near the gate had no choice but to hear) she held a valid ticket, but her connecting flight had arrived late, so it wasn’t her fault that she had reached the gate late. (Apparently, the door was shut and plane was ready for taxi and take off.) She demanded–in screams, tears and incoherent yelling-- that they re-open the doors to let her board.
At one point, the ticket person told her that he wouldn’t let her board in her present condition because her behavior was “unstable” or “beligerent” or some such wording.

Do the airline employees receive training on how to handle a situation like this?
It seems like it would be hard to define legally unacceptable behavior. And in today’s politically correct world and it would expose the airline to lawsuits, especially if the passenger who they refuse to allow on board is an ethnic minority.

From United Airlines Contract of Carriage …

@Rule 21

Safety – Whenever refusal or removal of a Passenger may be necessary for the safety of such Passenger or other Passengers or members of the crew including, but not limited to:

1) Passengers whose conduct is disorderly, offensive, abusive, or violent;

2. Passengers who fail to comply with or interfere with the duties of the members of the flight crew, federal regulations, or security directives;

3) Passengers who assault any employee of UA, including the gate agents and flight crew, or any UA Passenger;

4. Passengers who, through and as a result of their conduct, cause a disturbance such that the captain or member of the cockpit crew must leave the cockpit in order to attend to the disturbance;

5. Passengers who are barefoot or not properly clothed;

6. Passengers who appear to be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs to a degree that the Passenger may endanger the Passenger or another Passenger or members of the crew (other than a qualified individual whose appearance or involuntary behavior may make them appear to be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs);

7. Passengers wearing or possessing on or about their person concealed or unconcealed deadly or dangerous weapons; provided, however, that UA will carry law enforcement personnel who meet the qualifications and conditions established in 49 C.F.R. §1544.219;

8. Passengers who are unwilling or unable to follow UA’s policy on smoking or use of other smokeless materials;

9. Passengers who are unable to sit in a single seat with the seat belt properly secured, or are unable to put the seat’s armrests down when seated, unless they comply with Rule 6 I);

10. Passengers who are manacled or in the custody of law enforcement personnel;

11. Passengers who have resisted or may reasonably be believed to be capable of resisting custodial supervision;

12. Pregnant Passengers in their ninth month, unless such Passenger provides a doctor’s certificate dated no more than 72 hours prior to departure stating that the doctor has examined and found the Passenger to be physically fit for air travel to and from the destination requested on the date of the flight, and that the estimated date of delivery is after the date of the last flight;

13. Passengers who are incapable of completing a flight safely, without requiring extraordinary medical assistance during the flight, as well as Passengers who appear to have symptoms of or have a communicable disease or condition that could pose a direct threat to the health or safety of others on the flight. (NOTE: UA requires a medical certificate for Passengers who wish to travel under such circumstances. Visit UA’s website, www.united.com, for more information regarding UA’s requirements for medical certificates);

14. Passengers who fail to travel with the required safety assistant(s) pursuant to Rules 14 and 15;

15. Passengers who do not qualify as acceptable Non-Ambulatory Passengers (see Rule 14);

16. Passengers who have or cause a malodorous condition (other than individuals qualifying as disabled);

17. Persons who are mentally deranged or mentally incapacitated whose behavior may be hazardous to himself/herself, the crew, or other passengers. However, UA will accept escorted mental patients if the requesting mental authority furnishes a medical certificate which states that the mental patient may be transported safely. The escort must accompany the escorted passenger at all times; and

18. Unaccompanied passengers who are both blind and deaf, unless such passenger is able to communicate with representatives of UA by either physical, mechanical, electronic, or other means. Such passenger must inform UA of the method of communication to be used.