Flying high costs FIFO $25,000

A DRUNK flight passenger who threatened and assaulted Qantas staff has been fined $25,000 and banned from flying with the airline.

Luke MacDonald Taylor, 39, threatened crew members, attempted to punch a male flight attendant and tried to bite an Australian Federal Police officer after mixing alcohol with an anti-anxiety drug, Perth Now reports.

The man had been drinking beer and took a Xanax before boarding the 11.05pm flight in July and brought his own bourbon on board in a flask.

He started drinking about 50 minutes into the flight and when told he wasn’t allowed to drink his own alcohol on the plane, he downed two drinks in front of flight attendants.

He then poked a female customer service manager in the shoulder and took her intercom handset to prevent her from contacting the pilot.

When his flask was taken away, Taylor said: “I am doing what I f---ing want to do.”

The fly-in fly-out worker was fined $10,500 in the Western Australia District Court and ordered to pay $15,207 to Qantas in reparations.

He told the court he was a “really nice guy” and said he couldn’t remember committing the crimes. He blamed stress and the medication.

Taylor was charged with two counts of assaulting, threatening with violence or intimidating aircraft crew and one count of obstructing, hindering or resisting a police officer.