The Agencia Estatal de Seguridad Aérea (AESA) registed 1,166 complaints about onboard, conflictive behaviour. No surprises that the majority were caused by drunken Brits.
Of the complaints, many of which ended in arrests once the plane had landed, the majority occurred on flights to Tenerife Sur (189 incidents), Alicante (184) and Palma de Mallorca (177).
So far this year, there have been 976 incidents with Palma de Mallorca and Alicante hold their places of honour but Tenerife has dropped behind and El Prat (Barcelona) has taken its place.
The problem, as always is passengers getting drunk in the airport (in some cases even prior to this) or getting durnk during the flight. And of course, many who ‘get pissed’ end up getting violent; hence the real problem.
Being drunk and disorderly results in fights over space in overhead lockers and disobeying instructions from cabin crew.
A Spokesperson for pilots on longhaul flights, Sr. Molaguero, said that during Covid there was always a ruckus over wearing masks but now it’s basically drunken passengers causing the problems: “This excessive alcohol consumption normally results in a lack of respect for cabin crew and failing to fasten seatbelts when instructed to, or failing to return to their seats when the seatbelt light comes on.”
If the Captain considers that this behaviour threatens the safety of the aircraft, he or she can opt to divert the flight to a closer destination to hand over the culprits to the airport police. The best course, of course, is for the cabin crew to sniff out drunks before they board the flight; thus stopping them getting on in the first place.
Next, if a drunk is found to be already on the plane when it’s still on the ground, the pilot can delay the take-off until the person is removed.
The majority of the problems occur on low-budget flights with young passengers heading out for a alchohol-fest holiday in a mass-tourist destination along the lines of sun, alchohol & sex.
Even a Ryanair official, Michael O’Leary, asked for a limit of two consumitions in airports, after a spike in violent behaviour this summer on their flights.
(News: Spain)
Tags: Flights, Drunk Passengers, Violence Behaviour, Flights Redirected, Arrests, Ryanair, Low-Budget, Tenerife, Palma Mallorca, Alicante Flights