JetBlue Sobers Up the Skies
Nobody needs to be told that our skies aren’t very friendly anymore. In fact, a quick look at any daily newsfeed will show they’ve largely become downright unfriendly. They’ve also become outright rude and uncivil. uncivil. Thankfully, JetBlue is stepping up to address the issue. No, not by coming down harder on drunk passengers (they already do that), but by lowering the risk that passengers will even get drunk.
How? By giving folks a non-alcoholic option. And a top notch non-alcoholic option at that!
Yep, earlier this week JetBlue paired up with Athletic Brewing to become the first major airline to serve non-alcoholic beverages. It’s a wise pairing, for both parties; both companies said so too.
“We’re excited to take flight with JetBlue,” said Athletic CEO and co-founder Bill Shufelt. “This is a huge milestone for Athletic and a key partnership for us in the travel industry.”
JetBlue Director of Product Development Mariya Stoyanova concurred, adding:
“In our continued effort to provide customers with an onboard experience customized to their needs and preferences, JetBlue is proud to be the first major U.S. airline to serve non-alcoholic beer.”
Athletic Brewing Company
Healing Properties has been trumpeting Athletic ever since we learned the non-alcoholic company had won Brewer of the Year in 2020’s International Beer Challenge. (Yep, that’s right, a zero proof beer company beat out a continent-wide field of alcohol and non-alcohol competitors.) In fact, we dug them so much we came back and devoted an entire post to their doings.
That also happened to be the year the Financial Times named Athletic Brewing the fourth fastest-growing company in the country, and a year before Athletic made Time’s 100 Most Influential Companies list. Since then, it’s been nothing but onward and upward. Then again, what else to expect from a solid outfit operating in such a rockin’ industry? Especially when said industry is rockin’ at such increasing volume.
In fact, Tasting Table’s Kyle Grace Mills tells us “a recent survey conducted by NC Solutions found that nearly 34% of Americans are looking to drink less alcohol in 2023.”
The mindful writer also said “in-flight drinking is a great place to cut back.”
We couldn’t agree more!
JetBlue Contract of Carriage
JetBlue, like all airlines, is none too fond of drunk and/or disorderly passengers. As you might suspect, the company even has rules about such travelers. You can find ’em filed under “Refusal of Transport” in JetBlue’s Contract of Carriage.
To wit:
Refusal of Transport
Comfort and Safety: In the following categories where refusal or removal may be necessary for the comfort or safety of the Passenger(s) or other Passengers:
1. Persons whose conduct is or has been known to be disorderly, abusive, offensive, threatening, intimidating violent, or whose clothing is lewd, obscene, or patently offensive.
2. Persons who are barefoot and over five (5) years old.
3. Persons who are unable to sit in the seat in the full upright position with the seat belt fastened.
4. Persons who appear to be intoxicated or under the influence of drugs.
5. Persons with a communicable disease or infection whose condition poses a direct threat to the health or safety of others.
6. Persons who refuse to comply with instructions given by Carrier station management, supervisory personnel or uniformed flight crew.
7. Persons who have an offensive odor, except where such condition is the result of a qualified disability.
8. Persons who wear or have on or about their persons concealed or unconcealed deadly or dangerous weapons.
There’s more of course, including “manacled persons in the custody of law enforcement personnel… who express objection to the flight.” But you get the idea.
Zero Tolerance
In-flight incidents remain right around 10% of what they were in 2021, when they’d reached an astonishing 5973. That was a whopping 492% increase from the previous year. The new numbers seem largely due to the FAA’s Zero Tolerance policy. They could also have been helped along by the end of mask mandates.
Whatever the case, bad behavior still remains far too prevalent. It must. Otherwise why would the Feds still maintain an entire page devoted to Unruly Passengers? We kid you not. In fact, that’s where we got the above stats. It’s also where everyone is reminded of bad behavior’s consequences, which includes fines of up to $37,000 for each in-flight violation. And remember, one incident can result in multiple violations.
Got doubts? Ask the eight passengers who were hit with $161, 823 in fines back in 2021. And those were just the passengers fined due to alcohol-related unruly behavior.
Healing Properties Applauds Athletic and JetBlue
Healing Properties applauds both Athletic and JetBlue for daring to go where no companies have gone before. We’re especially grateful for their helping to advance sobriety, in the skies and otherwise. The more folks discover how cool it is to be sober, the faster we’ll eradicate incivility. Okay, so maybe we can’t expect everyone to be nice. But it certainly isn’t too much to ask that they not be drunk.
How about you? Are you ready to take a walk on the sober side? Then give us a ring. We’ll help you get sorted quick. Real quick. After all, we’ve been doing this sobriety thing since 2002. And it’d be an honor to help you too.
