I hadn’t heard that, but I suspect the pressurization of the cabin ameliorates any altitude issues.
Air pressure in a commercial passenger aircraft is typically equivalent to the air pressure at 4000-8000 foot elevation, not sea level. I.e. like in Denver.
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Thanks. I’ve consumed quite a bit of alcohol in Denver and never noticed a difference. 
*Edited to add that I actually just read the article. I hadn’t realized it was a 9 hour flight. Drinking 10 beers in 9 hours could likely keep that man within the legal limit for operation of a motor vehicle. Now, I’m sure he was drinking before the flight if he had 10 drinks on the plane, which means he was legally intoxicated.
If the male passenger did what he’s accused of I can’t understand why the employees on that plane didn’t step in. There is no justification that Delta can offer at this point.
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“ “Over the first three hours of the flight, the Delta flight attendants served the intoxicated Delta passenger approximately 10 vodka on ice drinks,” the lawsuit said.” The flight was 9 hrs bur the drinking was in the first 3
In addition to the continued beverage service, there appeared to be minimal (no?) efforts to separate this passenger from the people directly subjected to his behavior.
I once observed a Delta flight attendant shut off a passenger who wished to ‘over consume’ and had grabbed her arm to demand service on an international flight. She had a clear scripted response that set limits and consequences for touching her, as well as stating that he should not ask for additional drinks, that no flight attendant would serve him and no, he could not have the duty free bottle opened. I observed this 10 years ago and it appeared to be a well-rehearsed response. Sad that it is necessary, but I was glad to see how effective it was.
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I’ve also overheard people getting cut off. That’s gotta be one of the more unpleasant parts of the job for flight attendants.
Once a guy sitting next to me was kicked off for being drunk before we pushed back from the gate. A flight attendant asked if he was bothering me first (he wasn’t), then came back a few mins later and kicked him off.
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Maybe I missed it, but a mother and her daughter were being harassed and inappropriately touched and no passenger stepped up/in to put a stop to it?
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The linked page says that another passenger did offer to switch seats so that the affected passengers would not be next to the drunk, but does not say whether the switch was done.
I thought the same thing.
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This is a stupid question. I am not well versed in flying.
I have a flight that I am looking at. There is one flight a day where I can get to my destination with only one connection. All other flights are 2 connections.
If I buy the flight I want and pay for refundable tickets, if the price goes down, can I get a refund when or if the flight goes down. Or rebook the ticket at the lower price and then cancel the original flight?
It’s not southwest.
Tickets are $1100 per person. The second flight is small, maybe 40 seats? I forgot to count. It’s $90 for a refundable ticket.
It’s not until next year but I’m strangely very nervous about this flight. Thanks
Another passenger did switch into the middle seat (between the alleged assailant and the mother), with the daugter taking his seat.
A man on the flight stepped up and offered to switch seats with the teen girl. He sat between the drunk man and the mother for the remainder of the flight, according to the lawsuit.
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Depending on the airline, there may be a refund FEE, even for a refundable ticket. So make sure you review their refund policy and make that part of your overall calculation, if necessary.
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Thanks. It’s American. I’ll check their refund policy.
They make this very confusing. I wish they would keep their policies they had during covid.
This is what it says on their website
I was reading the responses from flight attendants all over the U.S., to an online posting of the Delta article. They were reacting to people who were questioning why they continued to serve this man so much alcohol. The overwhelming response was that in this post-Covid environment, where so many people are easily provoked, angered and reactive, that they (the flight attendants) are genuinely afraid for their safety if they say “no” to a passenger request. I’m sure there are still a good many who continue to go by the book, but I can see the side of the ones who are afraid they’ll be assaulted if they refuse drink service to someone.
It seems like it may be time to ban alcohol completely from flights or at least have a drink limit that passengers have to check a box that they agree to, when purchasing a ticket.
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On Hopper (as well as Capital One Travel, which runs on Hopper’s pricing engine), there’s sometimes (often?) an option to pay a slight premium to turn a normally non-refundable ticket into a refundable one. In addition, based on my observations, the breakeven probability of cancellation is often around 20%, meaning that if the chance of cancellation is more than 20%, it’s worth paying this slight premium.
Another alternative is to book an award ticket using miles (instead of cash). Award tickets from most US airlines are fully refundable nowadays (one of the few positives came out of the pandemic). You can rebook with cash when cash fare drops to a level that makes sense.
Was on a Delta flight recently. There was a couple sitting together who were arguing and the husband appeared to be half in the bag. When the flight attendant asked for drink orders prior to take off, the husband ordered two double vodka-sodas which the FA refused to serve him. He made a big deal out of it and to Delta’s credit, the FA went and got the pilot who dealt with the guy very sternly. He did try to to get his same order filled twice more in flight but was just ignored by the FA. This crew handled the situation well.
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Understandable and disturbing what flight attendants and the majority of cooperative passengers are subjected to. Having heard from lots of people who work in public facing roles in the past few years, the behavior of some customers can range from disrespectful to frightening. All the vulnerabilities are amplified in the air. I have empathy for how complicated the scenario is and perhaps the situation can be improved with the number of spotlights on it.
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I wonder how flight attendants can keep track of how many drinks, especially with multiple servers.
My experience with the AA refund policy is:
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Any purchased ticket (regardless of whether it’s refundable) is refundable if you cancel it and request the refund within 24 hours of purchasing it and as long as it was purchased more than 2 days prior to the day of travel.
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A refundable ticket can be canceled and a refund requested at any time prior to the time of travel.
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