The Dutch aviation sector is considering introducing restrictions on the serving of alcohol around or during flights. The number of incidents involving aggressive and unruly passengers is increasing to such an extent that airlines are working on an action plan together with Schiphol and the Royal Military Police.
Sebastiaan Quekel
General reporter
Cabin crew being verbally abused or tourists fighting with each other: disruptive behavior on board and at the airport is becoming increasingly common, according to a tour of several airlines.
According to the aviation organization IATA, there is an incident involving an unruly passenger on every 468 flights worldwide.
‘Influence on crew safety’
In many cases, alcohol consumption plays a role, the airlines confirm. That is why there will be a ‘sector-wide investigation’ into alcohol restrictions ‘throughout the entire travel chain’, Transavia reports in a response to questions from this site.
As many as half of its personnel on the ground and in the air experience threats, intimidation or violence every year. “This has a direct impact on the safety of the crew and passengers and on the peace and quiet on board,” says Transavia.
Internationally too, the supply is full. Ryanair CEO Michael O’Leary complained this week The Times that his aircraft now have to divert almost every day due to aggression on board. Ten years ago that was once a week.
“I don’t understand why airport bars serve alcohol at 5 a.m. or 6 a.m. Who wants beer at that time?” said the Irishman, who demands that the bars stop this.
‘We do not accept this’
When asked, KLM does not make such a call, but does speak of a ‘serious and growing problem’ when it comes to troublemakers on the plane. “We take incidents involving aggression, intimidation or violence very seriously,” a spokesperson said in response to O’Leary’s statements.
Nuisance is not only caused by alcohol, KLM emphasizes. “Responsible behavior starts with the passenger himself. Our crew is trained to recognize signals of inappropriate behavior, including excessive alcohol consumption, in a timely manner and to intervene when necessary.”
This could mean that alcohol will no longer be served to KLM travelers or that ‘additional measures’ will be taken to ensure safety on board.
EasyJet explicitly points to drinking at the airports as the cause. The company itself says that it applies ‘strict guidelines for the use of alcohol on board’. “Passengers who are visibly under the influence will no longer be served alcohol.”
Teeth knocked out
How quickly something like this escalates became apparent at the beginning of this year on a flight of the British company Jet2. That plane had to land unexpectedly in Brussels after a massive fight in the cabin, caused by racist comments.
According to witnesses, there was havoc in which ‘teeth were knocked out and blood ended up on the seats’.
Argument about blacklists
The call from staff to crack down on troublemakers has been clashing with political reality for some time now. Pilot union VNV has been calling for a national ‘black list’ for some time. For example, someone who misbehaves on a KLM flight cannot board Transavia the next day.
That plan was scrapped last year because then Minister Barry Madlener (Infrastructure) saw no point in it. He pointed out that KLM and Transavia have been sharing their lists since 2022, but the number of incidents nevertheless increased by tens of percent. In practice, it almost always concerns new troublemakers and rarely repeat offenders, he explained his choice.
VNV chairman Camiel Verhagen thought that the minister’s substantiation was flawed on all sides. He pointed out that politicians compare recent figures with corona year 2022, when much less was flown. According to the trade unionist, the government and companies are letting down the staff.
“It is crazy that someone today seriously misbehaves and threatens flight safety on a flight to Curaçao and can simply fly back with another airline next week with impunity,” he said at the time.
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