How Much Alcohol You Can Get In-Flight? DGCA Replies

New Delhi: After disturbing incidents where inebriated persons have urinated on co-passengers on flights, the question was raised that how much alcohol is to be served on the airlines to keep people sober and avoid such incidents. 

DGCA in an affidavit before the Supreme Court has said that its the discretion of every airline to decide the limit of alcoholic drinks to be served onboard. 

The DGCA in the affidavit said that as per Clause 4.3 of Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR), every airline has to formulate a policy with the aim of not leaving passengers in inebriated state, which increase the risk of them committing nuisance. 

DGCA responded to the plea of 72-year-old woman who was urinated upon by a co-passenger on a New-York-Delhi flight demanding urgent framing of an SOP to handle with intoxicated passengers. 

To which, DGCA in  an affidavit replied that  Civil Aviation Requirements (CAR) are in place to deal with 'handling of unruly passengers".

In Nov-Dec 2022, two similar incidents happened on separate flights where the inebriated persons allegedly urinated on co-passengers. 

In her plea, woman has urged the SC to direct the DGCA to formulate a 'zero tolerance; SOP and rules to strictly tackle with onboard disruptive/unruly behavior and its implementation in letter and spirit at all times. 

The woman alleged that the Air India crew fell short of tackling the sensitive issue in a serious manner which caused extreme damage to her dignity. The woman said that first airlines served excess hard drinks to the accused co-passenger and then forced to enter into a settlement with him while failing in their duty to report the incident to the police. 

The woman stated that DGCA must take into account "drunkenness" as unruly or disruptive behavior on aircraft.