Is it illegal to drink your own alcohol on a plane?

[rvrchtr]

@mhendo

I can’t seem to find anything definitive on this either.

I’ve found a few other “cites” similar to yours, with people on the internet claiming that it’s illegal, but not offering any actual evidence except their own words.

Another possibility that occurred to me was that the flight attendant was confusing “illegal” with “against the rules.” It’s possible that it’s legal to drink your own alcohol on a flight, but that it’s also against the airline’s own rules. But a search of three different airline websites (Delta, Southwest, United) turned up no rules about consuming your own alcohol on a plane.

FAR 135.121 (a) below is the regulation and there is a 121 Airline reg that states the same.
135.121 Alcoholic beverages.
(a) No person may drink any alcoholic beverage aboard an aircraft unless the certificate holder operating the aircraft has served that beverage.
(b) No certificate holder may serve any alcoholic beverage to any person aboard its aircraft if that person appears to be intoxicated.
(c) No certificate holder may allow any person to board any of its aircraft if that person appears to be intoxicated.

[herman_and_bill]

It seems to be ok in Russia.

Come on, this is an old thread and the clip is funny.

[Richard_Pearse]

@CanTak3

I was just on a Delta flight last week and I can confirm they do not allow alcohol to be brought on board. It stated this in their seat pamphlet. I doubt I would be violating an actual law mind you; just the company policy.

Once you are onboard the aircraft company policy IS the law. You can’t say, “oh it’s just company policy”. You are required to comply with all instructions.

[GiantRat]

@gotpasswords

Think of the airplane as a long skinny bar with unpleasant seats. Whether it’s on the ground or in the air, there’s a gaggle of laws regarding the legal and proper service of alcoholic beverages.

Would you expect to get hollered at by the bartender if you pulled a bottle of booze out of your pocket and started drinking it? At most bars, you’d get a stern warning at the least, and quite likely, shown the door. Same thing in the air, except as noted above, you could be looking at charges of interfering with the flight crew, which is a bit of a catch-all, but the end result is you’re being grilled by the Feds for a while. Not my idea of a good way to end a flight.

OTOH, if you keep that bottle in your pocket and didn’t touch it at any time you’re at the bar, the bartender or server won’t know and won’t care.

Hell, I had a bartender give me hell for bringing in a bottle of booze and asking him to hold it behind the bar (so that he could be sure I was bringing in the stuff to drink in his bar). There was a fairly intense standoff period… I was sort of surprised. I was trying to assure them that he was going to get paid…

[watchwolf49]

No, no reason at all not to serve alcohol on planes

[Elendil_s_Heir]

@Colophon

A perfect example of a missing comma making a rule ambiguous.

Let’s eat Grandma!
Let’s eat, Grandma!

Punctuation saves lives.