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American Airlines has taken a step to combat excess consumption of alcohol at airports across the country. The popular airline has announced that it will not serve alcohol until January 18, 2022. Previously, American Airlines had suspended alcohol service earlier this summer, but the initial plan was to resume selling alcohol until September 13.
"We are doing all we can to help create a safe environment for our crew and customers onboard our aircraft[s]," the airline wrote in an internal memo this week.
Recently, there has been an uptick in incidents involving unruly passengers. While many high-profile incidents have involved passengers refusing to abide by mask mandates, others have involved intoxicated passengers aggressively interacting with airline staff. Most notably, a reportedly intoxicated passenger, Maxwell Berry, was accused of groping several flight attendants before shouting at them from his seat. Airline staff was forced to wrap him in duct tape before the flight landed in Miami, Florida. In response, the Federal Aviation Administration has called on airlines to stop serving alcohol during flights. Also, the FAA and airlines have called asked restaurants to stop serving large, to-go containers of alcohol.
"Even though FAA regulations specifically prohibit the consumption of alcohol aboard an aircraft that is not served by the airline, we have received reports that some airport concessionaires have offered alcohol 'to go,'" FAA spokesperson Steve Dickson said.
"And passengers believe they can carry that alcohol onto their flights or they become inebriated."
Southwest Airlines has also prohibited the sale of alcohol during flights, but their ban is set to end in mid-September. The airline has not made the decision to extend its alcohol ban, but it is still being considered.
"Certainly with the number of incidents you can tell why flight attendants would feel leery about beginning to sell alcohol onboard the aircraft again," Southwest Airlines spokesperson Lynn Montgomery explained to ABC News.
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