Alcohol and Tobacco Contribute to Air Rage

A recent British study reported by the Daily Mail came to the conclusion that there is a 62 percent increase in air-rage incidents among airline passengers who are drinkers and smokers.

A study by the British Civil Aviation Authority’s (CAA) also concluded that the biggest contributory factors to disruptive behavior were alcohol and tobacco, which also includes violent drunks and passengers on flights who refused to obey smoking bans.

Air-rage incidents have quadrupled since 2002 partly because airlines have adopted a zero tolerance policy towards offenders and as a result, acting and reporting more incidents.

Alcohol involvement took many forms and occurred in more than a third of air-rage cases, the agency said, including; passengers bringing their own alcohol on board and drinking excessively in 29 percent of cases, 23 percent involving passengers who had drank excessively before boarding the plane, and 17 percent who misbehaved after drinking alcohol supplied by the airline.

Smoking was involved in approximately a quarter of air-rage incidents, mostly revolving around attempts to smoke in aircraft lavatories.

While smoking and alcohol were common triggers for disruptive behavior, many arguments between passengers often stemmed from domestic disputes among themselves, seats assignments or the effect of a reclining seat on the person behind.

Another cause of air-rage stems from a recent trend in delayed departures and long waits on runways causing frustration and anxiety from passengers. Several reports of air-rage have occurred after planes were required to sit on runways for several hours without allowing beverages to be served causing passengers to grow hot, thirsty and irritable.