It’s really an ethical dilemma, more than anything.
Should drinking alcoholic beverages in an airport bar before a flight be eliminated or maybe held to a two-drink limit? That’s the ethical Online debate that continues to rage following an incident in New Orleans.
First, the background.
A woman was arrested after biting and kicking police after they escorted her off a Southwest Airlines flight. The woman was asked to leave the plane by Southwest officials and crew. She refused. That’s when the police were called and she was restrained on the jetway upon removal and to a wheelchair.
She was said to be inebriated.
A TikTok video of the incident went viral, and that’s what started the debate among travelers.
The short answer is, no. Drinking alcohol before a flight is a personal choice. If you can’t handle your booze, that’s your problem. It’s possible that a person could be over-served, but that’s a topic for a different time. That’s where personal responsibility comes into play.
It would reignite the debate about personal freedom, much as we had with wearing a mask during the pandemic. Do we really want that again and have it deteriorate into a discussion of politics?
It is true that having a drink before a flight can take the edge off for some people. That’s just fine for some people who can monitor their alcohol intake. Others are just there to party. They are the ones who don’t understand that getting drunk in an airplane cabin is not a good idea. Too many things can happen.
Besides, are we now asking bartenders to also be a doctor? To also be someone who can easily distinguish between a responsible person and a chronic alcoholic?
Now you’re asking too much.
There’s something to be said for accountability and passengers should have it. Why do we have to punish everybody? Cracking down on drinking alcohol before flights is not the answer.
Surely there are better ways. Maybe a passenger shows his ticket and the time of his flight so that he’s not sitting there for hours just drinking away. I don’t know.
I don’t know what the answer is.
But I know what the answer isn’t.
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