While responding to the Air France thread, I thought of this and thought I’d share it with you.
Question – Let’s say you go down the pub one evening and spend 3 hours there. Let’s imagine you don’t drink pints but prefer a shot of whiskey. Would it be unreasonable to say that you could consume a whiskey every half an hour? If so you would have had 6 shorts by the time you go home feeling probably a little tipsy.
Now think about this – You check in for a holiday flight to the Canaries or a Greek island in the Aegean, flight time three and a half hours. The bar will be oper on board from 15 minutes after take off to 15 minutes before landing (total 3 hours). Let’s assume you avoided the bar in the terminal. The drinks trolley comes round so you grab a couple of miniatures, hell you’re on holiday so let’s live a little. In the second hour os the bar being open boredom gets the better of you and you get 2 more miniatures and then in the third hour you do the same again. So what, you’ve only had the same as you’ve had down the pub.
No you haven’t. Each bottle is in fact a double measure of what a pub serves but what most people don’t realise is that the physiological effect of the pressurised cabin at cruise levels is such that the effect of alcohol is doubled compared to being at sea level. The normally jovial 6 shorts chap is now a 24 shorts aggressive nutter confined in a steel tube with not much leg room.
Discuss
By: Hand87_5 - 9th September 2002 at 08:24
RE: Have a drink on me…
wysiwyg,
You know common sense and wisdom don’t get long with business and big $$ !!
By: wysiwyg - 8th September 2002 at 20:43
RE: Have a drink on me…
I agree fully about the lack of wisdom in duty free sales both in the form of glass bottles and liquor.
By: mongu - 8th September 2002 at 20:36
RE: Have a drink on me…
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 08-09-02 AT 08:37 PM (GMT)]As GD said, so how comes you are allowed to buy bottled of wine/spirits etc.. at duty free and bring them on board in a carrier bag?
It couldn’t be safety taking a back seat to airport sales revenue could it??
I flicked through the BA Highlife magazine today, and there is an article by Geoff somebody, BA’s Director of Security. He said one of the post-11/9 measures is that defunct security passes have been withdrawn. But wouldn’t that have been a common sense measure anyway?
Oh, wysiwyg, I meant that the airline establishment has houlier than thou tendencies – not you personally! Sorry if you took it that way.
By: wysiwyg - 7th September 2002 at 19:58
RE: Have a drink on me…
I think there has been so much uncertainty about how to deal with the security issue after 9-11. I think your alcohol was safe as it was in a flask. If it had been in a bottle I would agree with it being confiscated as all you would have to do is smash the bottle and you have a weapon far more effective than a knife!
It does seem ironic to me though that the UK CAA’s solution is to enforce us to lock flightdeck doors and impose a regime that detracts from safe aircraft handling (we now have to stop monitoring the radios to answer the interphone to see who wants to enter). This is deemed to be the solution and yet this was precisely the pre 9-11 set up that existed in the US when the terrorist events occurred. We have not improved the system one iota.
By: greekdude1 - 7th September 2002 at 17:44
RE: Have a drink on me…
Wysiwyg, I saw nothing holier than though about it. Nothing wrong with talking about alcohol consumption whilst traveling in the air. Just another aspect of airline travel. One event that baffled me was, I took a flask full of Scotch aboard my first fligth post 9/11. Mind you, it was 6 months later, but after nonetheless. During the security check, my metallic flask was identified in my carry-on and I was asked what was in it, so I told them. I was then ordered to dump it out, or to go back to check-in and have them retrieve my bags to put it in there. I didn’t want to deal with all that hassel, so I just unwillingly dumped it out. Is this only a U.S. policy not to be allowed to bring open containers of booze on board, or is this worldwide? Either way, is this a post 9/11 thing or was it like that before? If I’m not driving a vehicle, or flying the aircraft, why should I not be able to bring a flask with a few ounces of booze in there? What’s the difference between that and packing a 1.75 L bottle that is sealed into my carry on?
GD1
By: wysiwyg - 7th September 2002 at 06:08
RE: Have a drink on me…
[updated:LAST EDITED ON 07-09-02 AT 06:09 AM (GMT)]Apologies, gents. Never meant to come across as holier than thou, just to create an interesting discussion point. I’ve have had a couple of problematic flights this year because of alcohol, one of which was with a rugby type party. Common sense is the key, which fortunately 99% of the public have. I mentioned miniatures from the bar in order to push the fact that few people realise they are doubles and to give some kind of measure but almost all of our inflight problems occur with surrupticious drinking of bottles either bought on board (from duty free) or purchased in the terminal.
By: mongu - 6th September 2002 at 12:44
RE: Have a drink on me…
I’m a bit of a control freak to be honest, so I rarely drink on board. Plus, the wine that you get with your meal is usually just coloured vinegar. Maybe I’ll bring some conkers next time?
I have to say though Wywiwyg, the inferrence of your post was a bit holier than thou. In a pub, the licensee will be charged by the police if they persist in serving alcohol to someone who is obviously drunk, or even if there is reason to believe he’s had too much.
So the big question is – why the hell do you give a passenger another drink if he’s blotto? Surely the cabin crew have to use their judgement – I mean, they can be strict about not letting a passenger fly if they appear tipsy on the ground, but they have no such qualms once they are aboard.
Also, airlines should start giving mineral water out as an option with the tea and coffee. Last time I flew Virgin (Upper) they placed a big bottle of Evian on your seat prior to boarding. As it happens, they have an actual bar on board. Do you think they learned from experience?
By: Bhoy - 6th September 2002 at 00:11
RE: Have a drink on me…
to be honest, I hardly drink in flight… maybe a can of beer or a G&T, but that’s about it. And maybe a pint in the bar in the lounge before… but only if I’ve got time (ie if the flight’s delayed)
Yes, I’m well aware what a couple of bevvies at altitude can do to you, but it depends on the person, too. I’m a rugby player (of sorts), so I’m quite used to extended pub sessions, anyway…
Either way, I know my limits, and won’t go overboard (no pun intended), I know when I’ve had enough.
There are just to many people who when going on holiday just decide to drink the whole way…
By: greekdude1 - 5th September 2002 at 23:36
RE: Have a drink on me…
Every time I fly, I’ll go into the lounge and make myself a bloody mary, or 2. Then on the plane, I’ll have about 2 or 3 (maybe 4) Scotch’s, and I’ll have a few glasses of wine with dinner. After that, I might have another Scotch or 2. Throughout this whole ordeal, I’m always drinking plenty of water. Hell, I drink water even when I’m drinking on dry land. I don’t have a problem drinking in flight, if anything it helps me relax a bit. During the course of a 12 or 13 hour flight, I really don’t drink all that much. On a 5 hour JFK-LAX flight, I had about 10 mini’s of Johnny Black. That’s probably the most I’ve had to drink on any one flight. Needless to say, the 1 hour layover plus the ensuing half hour connecting flight, did me a lot of good.
GD1
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September 5, 2002 at 9:30 pm