We all know that flight attendants have a hard job to do. They’re at the ready to keep you safe, of course – that’s the #1 part of their job. But to keep you (relatively) happy and maybe fill your belly up a little bit (emphasis on “little bit” for us in economy class), they also typically offer food and beverage service on the flight.
Typical options are water, soda, coffee or tea. But if you’re over 21 and don’t mind paying for your drink, you can buy alcoholic beverages. Typical choices include cans of beer or mini bottles of wine or liquor.
However, a funny thing happened to a passenger a couple of weeks ago. A user on Reddit, who goes by the name @Technical_Weird-4859, said that the Delta flight attendant told them they couldn’t serve them wine because they were sitting in the exit row. They wrote in the r/Delta subreddit (heads up for potentially NSFW adult language) to see whether or not it’s a new Delta policy.
Of course, when you sit in an exit row, you’re taking on an important responsibility. Delta, like all other airlines, has on their website that you must be willing and able to:
Please confirm that the passenger meets the following criteria. Federal regulations require that passengers meet a set of criteria in order to be seated in an exit.
- You must be able to understand and speak English
- You must be able to comprehend verbal instructions for operating the emergency exit, including visually locating and operating a window exit or exit door and directing others to the exit
- You must be physically able to quickly activate the evacuation slide and help others off to it
- You must be physically able to open an exit door and lift and stow a window exit weighing up to 60lb (28kgs)
- You must not have a condition that might cause you harm if called upon to perform an applicable exit row function
- You must not require the use of a seat belt extension due to the hazard of entanglement
- You cannot be under 15 years of age or traveling with a child under the age of 15
- You cannot be traveling with an animal in the cabin of the aircraft
- You cannot be traveling with supplemental oxygen or a wheelchair
Nothing Delta or even the FAA says that you can’t be served alcohol. And yet this flight attendant said they couldn’t serve @Technical_Weird-4859 wine because they were in the exit row.
What’s up with that?
The general consensus was that plenty of them had been served alcohol while sitting in the exit row (one person said they got 2 free drinks each for agreeing to be the emergency row people). And that unless the original poster appeared to be intoxicated (they said they were stone cold sober), the flight attendant was making that up.
Granted, the FA can use their discretion if they think someone has had too many. Case in point:
- Another poster said that since they had had a double for their first drink, their next drink had to be a single.
- Someone said they were drinking gin and tonics at a rate of one every hour (which is roughly how quickly a typical person takes to process a drink) and after the 4th hour/4th drink, the FA mentioned “Just so you know, that’s four.” Person said they didn’t feel the effects of the alcohol at all, but they felt embarrassed enough from the comment to not order any more for the rest of the flight.
- Another respondent said that after the 3rd drink on a 14-hour flight, the FA cut them off.
Finally, someone who said they are a Delta FA chimed in. They said,
As a flight attendant based for a certain large airline in ATL, I can assure you that we have no such policy for exit row passengers. As far as alcohol is concerned, you can drink but we cannot serve anyone who appears intoxicated already (coming onto the plane after visiting an airport bar, for example) or anyone who becomes intoxicated inflight. Anyone can get served a double on the first round, singles after that….its policy. The issue really is that alcohol related inflight incidents continue to rise including assaults on flight attendants, so we are increasingly becoming more wary and cautious.
And more than one person suggested that even if it wasn’t a rule, maybe it should be. After all, if you’re going to have a “job” in the event of an emergency, people would want that person to be 100% sober. One person’s reply:
It makes sense. I’m surprised every airline doesn’t have this rule.
If something were to happen, how would Delta explain to a jury that it allowed the person responsible for opening the emergency door to become inebriated? It’s not a good look, and not worth the liability for the airline.
Nobody makes you sit in an emergency seat. I don’t think it is unreasonable to expect the person who agrees to help in an emergency to be sober.
They were downgraded (-18!) for their response, although I think what they said makes perfect sense.
What do you think?
What do you think—should there be a rule that if you’re in the exit row, you shouldn’t be served alcohol? Or should it be limited? Or should they treat someone in the exit row like they do everybody else – drink as much as they want, until they appear to be under the influence? (in which case, what about if they need to help during an emergency? Then what?)
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