You can view a video on YouTube of a Delta flight attendant being removed and booked for on-the-job intoxication. Neil provided a video of drunken flight attendants making out on a flight in Russia. So how common is it for flight crews to imbibe on the clock?
Despite the recent media coverage, it’s not common at all (you can breathe that sigh of relief now). Travel columnist James Wysong, who also works as a flight attendant, examined the tendency of airline employees to hit the bottle while on duty. While the traveling life might be conducive to partying, Wysong discovered that for the most part employees are keeping their partying on terra firma.
Wysong discusses the looser rules of the past, when a flight attendant he knew began her nine-hour flight with two fingers of scotch, and pilots arrived to work with alcohol on their breath. But now flight crews are randomly tested (he’s been tested three times in the past two years) and the ramifications are severe if caught.
So you can relax on your next flight. And if you find that you can’t relax, well, passengers are certainly allowed to imbibe!
[via Msnbc]