Alcohol banned on early flights
PASSENGERS on Jet. com’s early morning flights from East Midlands Airport will no longer be enjoying a breakfast tipple after the airline banned booze before 8am in a bid to tackle abusive behaviour.
The move comes after a series of incidents involving drunken holidaymakers whose actions have upset fellow travellers and staff and forced planes to divert.
Last month a Jet.com flight taking holidaymakers from East Midlands Airport to Gran Canaria was forced to re-route to dump an unruly passenger.
Drinking his own illicit alcohol and flouting the airline’s terms of carriage by smoking an E-cigarette, the man became verbally abusive. He became so agitated the captain made the immediate decision to divert to protect the safety and well-being of fellow customers and crew. On arrival he was escorted off the aircraft by local authorities.
Jet.com has issued him with a lifetime ban and will also vigorously pursue to recover the costs incurred by this unnecessary divert.
Similar instances have occurred on other Jet.com flights from airports elsewhere in the country, pushing the budget airline to bring in the booze ban.
The ban, which came into action on Monday August 8, is an extension of the company’s campaign called Onboard Together aimed at reducing disruptive behaviour on its flights.
So far, the campaign has seen more than 500 passengers refused travel with more than 60 of these given lifetime bans since it was launched in 2015.
Phil Ward, managing director of Jet.com, said: “We want people to have an enjoyable flight experience with us and we will not tolerate anyone who intimidates fellow passengers and makes abusive and inappropriate remarks to our crew.”
The airline’s ban - the first of its kind - follows a pledge from Aviation Minister Lord Ahmad last week to consider what more can be done to make air travel an “attractive sector for all” which is “safe and secure”.
Mr Ward added: “We have decided to follow up very quickly on my comments made last week by taking positive action to allow the millions of customers and families who fly with us to travel with confidence and have a great experience with Jet.com.
“We believe that stopping sales of alcohol before 8am on our morning flights is an effective way to ensure everyone has an enjoyable and comfortable journey. We understand that we’re the first of the European airlines to take this bold step and call upon industry partners in airports to also trade responsibly.”