American Airlines won’t serve alcohol in its economy class cabin until at least January 2022, aligning itself with the end of the federal mask mandate for airports and airplanes.
The announcement came on the same day as the Federal Aviation Administration revealed that fines for unruly passengers had topped $1 million in 2021 so far.
The FAA had previously warned airlines to monitor the serving of alcohol to passengers, saying that there had been a spike in difficult or dangerous behaviour amongst passengers this year.
“We are doing all we can to help create a safe environment for our crew and customers onboard our aircraft,” American said in an internal memo quoted by NBC News.
American and Southwest Airlines had suspended alcohol sales early in the pandemic, but were due to start serving booze in the main cabin next month.
For American, that date has now been extended to 18 January, 2022 – at the earliest. Southwest have yet to decide on whether to extend the booze ban.
