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The FAA is advising U.S. airports to cease "to go" sales of alcohol after a recent spike in incidents involving unruly passengers.
The FAA advised police to arrest more individuals who are unruly and/or violent on flights and asked airport bars and restaurant to stop serving alcoholic beverages that can be taken through the airport.
"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 Administrator Steve Dickson wrote. "And passengers believe they can carry that alcohol onto their flights or they become inebriated."
The recent surge in incidents involving aggressive behavior on flights, determined alcohol to commonly be a contributing factor.
"Airports can help bring awareness to this prohibition on passengers carrying open alcohol onboard their flights through signage, public service announcements, and concessionaire education," Dickson said.
Several U.S. airlines prohibited alcohol sales on board until the expiration of a mask mandate.
Southwest banned on flight alcohol sales after an unruly passenger knocked a flight attendant's two front teeth out in June.
"Certainly with the number of incidents you can tell why flight attendants would feel leery about beginning to sell alcohol onboard the aircraft again," Lyn Montgomery, a spokesperson for the union that represents Southwest flight said.
Alcohol was a factor in the incident on Frontier Airlines, which Maxwell Berry, groped two flight attendants and punched a third in the face after having at least two drinks on the flight. Berry, was then duct taped to his seat for the duration of the flight and charged with three counts of battery after the plane landed in Miami.