Ryanair CEO calls for two-drink limit to curb alcohol-fuelled flight violence

Ryanair Group CEO Michael O'Leary wants a limit on pre-flight alcohol intake for passengers. Photo / Getty

A series of alcohol-related incidents are disrupting flights, and airline executives are tired of it.

Ryanair chief executive officer Michael O’Leary has called for a two-drink limit per passenger at airport bars, aiming to curb the rise in drunken disorder on flights and in airports.

O’Leary shared with the Daily Telegraph that a combination of alcohol with “powder and tablets” has caused an increase in assaults on cabin crew and confrontations between passengers.

According to O’Leary, airlines are having a hard time identifying which passengers are drunk as they easily blend in with a group and act sober from the boarding gate to their seat.

“As long as they can stand up and shuffle they will get through. Then when the plane takes off, we see the misbehaviour,” he told the Telegraph.

It’s hard for the cabin crew to diffuse unruly behaviour in a relatively small space in the sky.

“We don’t want to begrudge people having a drink,” O’Leary stated. “But we don’t allow people to drink-drive, yet we keep putting them up in aircraft at 33,000 feet.”

Two and done. Photo / 123rf

Drunken passengers have also changed over time, states O’Leary.

In the past, the flight exec claims that most fell asleep. Now he suspects flyers are also on tablets and powder, leading to more aggressive behaviour.

O’Leary’s stance comes in the wake of several high-profile incidents, a number of which have involved alleged sexual assault of flight attendants.

Other instances have seen brawls erupting between passengers.

Because of this, Ryanair’s own boarding rules and procedures have changed. O’Leary explained that the airline has implemented pre-flight bag searches on services bound for Ibiza, and banned water bottles after passengers filled them with vodka.

O’Leary highlighted that flights from the United Kingdom, particularly those to popular “party destinations” such as Ibiza and certain Greek islands, are especially prone to violence.

Regional UK airports, including Liverpool, Manchester, Glasgow, and Edinburgh have seen a rise in such incidents.

Two men started a fight on a plane as other horrified passengers looked on. Photo/Twitter/Keem

The Ryanair boss added that delayed flights only add to the problem, with passengers staying at the airport for an extended time, and drinking more alcohol.

“Most of our passengers show up an hour before departure. That’s sufficient for two drinks. But if your flight is delayed by two or three hours you can’t be guzzling five, six, eight, ten pints of beer,” O’Leary told the Telegraph.

Of course, his two-drink limit proposal is likely to face resistance from various sectors, including hospitality businesses in the airport.

Tim Martin is the chairman of the UK pub chain, Wetherspoons. He is also one of O’Leary’s critics, claiming they have had no complaints from airport authorities for years.

As reported in the BBC, an AirportsUK spokesperson addressed the situation and assured the public that fines, flight refusals, and even jail time will be implemented for unruly passengers.

However, O’Leary points out the airport’s unwillingness to co-operate and claims airline pubs continue to serve drunken passengers.

“The airports of course are opposed to it and say that their bars don’t serve drunken passengers” O’Leary told the Telegraph.

“But they do serve the relatives of the drunken passenger.”