Airports are hardly relaxing places, so once you’ve checked in, bag-dropped and boarded, the likelihood is you’ll want to (metaphorically, as legroom is probs a bit tight) kick back and relax – maybe with an in-flight glass of wine.
But if someone on your flight had a couple already in the terminal, they can ruin the vibes for everyone. In fact, almost a fifth (17 percent) of us have experienced drunken disruption on a flight according to Go.Compare, but there are some airlines in particular that see this kind of behaviour more often than others.
A survey conducted by the price comparison website asked passengers about their experiences, and based on the data, easyJet is the airline most disrupted by drunk people, with 29 percent of their passengers reporting disruptions from drunk people.
You might be surprised to read that the crown wasn’t claimed by Ryanair, but it did still come in second place with 22 percent. And clearly this needs to change – if you heard the operator’s CEO Michael O’Leary speaking recently, you’ll know he believes that what he dubs ‘air rage’ is at its worst ever.
‘We are seeing record numbers. We and most of the airlines around Europe are seeing a spike upwards, particularly this summer, of disgruntled passengers on board,’ O’Leary told the Independent’s travel podcast, ‘I think the real challenge is: flight delays are up at a record high this summer, so people are spending time in airports drinking before they board the aircraft.’
Aggression towards flight attendants has spiked, ‘with at least one bad case of assault on a weekly basis now’. In response, O’Leary has called for more effective fines for disruptive passengers, as well as a strict limit of two alcoholic drinks per person at airports.
It certainly sounds like more restrictions would make the lives of airport and airline staff a whole lot easier – for now, here are the worst five airlines for drunken disruption.
The worst airlines for drunken disruption
- easyJet
- Ryanair
- British Airways
- TUI
- Jet2
Progress in air travel
Massive advancements are being made in air travel right now, from technological developments such as the world’s first document-free boarding-process to other changes such as a policy where women can request not to sit next to men.
Did you see that the world’s best international airline in 2024 has been crowned?
Plus: The world’s most well-connected airport has been named.
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