Airborne booze fueling Brit air rage to new heights

It isn’t really a stereotype if it is true – and the stereotype that British air passengers are a bunch of drunken hooligans doesn’t really sound untrue when you read the latest statistics.

In the past 12 months, in-air rage incidents on UK carriers rose 30 percent, and alcohol played a very important part. Almost 3,500 incidents were recorded as “significant”, and 44 were “serious”.

Incidents varied from smoking, to acts of violence. Of the 44 serious incidents, 29 of them involved passengers being restrained, and in 13 incidents, the plane had to be diverted.

37% of the incidents were booze fueled and men are involved 73 percent of the time. The figures are pretty bad, but the chance of being involved in an air-rage incident in a UK carrier is still just one in 24,000.

Once again, it raises the question what is more important to airlines and airports – passenger safety, or making money off alcohol sales?