Browse content similar to Plane Drunk. Check below for episodes and series from the same categories and more!
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Looking forward to your summer holiday abroad? | 0:00:05 | 0:00:09 | |
Better hope you're not stuck on a flight with this lot. | 0:00:09 | 0:00:15 | |
SHOUTING AND SINGING. | 0:00:15 | 0:00:20 | |
On Panorama tonight we investigate the rise | 0:00:20 | 0:00:24 | |
in drunk and disorderly passengers and the chaos they are | 0:00:24 | 0:00:27 | |
bringing to UK flights. | 0:00:27 | 0:00:29 | |
HE HOWLS WITH LAUGHTER. | 0:00:29 | 0:00:32 | |
When people were getting on the plane, | 0:00:32 | 0:00:34 | |
they were really clearly very drunk. | 0:00:34 | 0:00:36 | |
CRYING AND SHOUTING. | 0:00:36 | 0:00:38 | |
A panorama survey of UK cabin crew reveals | 0:00:38 | 0:00:40 | |
the scale of our problem with booze in the skies. | 0:00:40 | 0:00:44 | |
Take your seat the plane is just... | 0:00:44 | 0:00:47 | |
And all the colleagues who have been punched, | 0:00:47 | 0:00:49 | |
kicked and one of them was head-butted by a passenger. | 0:00:49 | 0:00:54 | |
We go undercover to expose the truth about alcohol sales at UK airports. | 0:00:54 | 0:01:04 | |
They are making it very, very readily available. | 0:01:07 | 0:01:10 | |
BLEEP! | 0:01:10 | 0:01:12 | |
And we ask whether subsidising cheap flights through alcohol sales | 0:01:12 | 0:01:16 | |
is leaving passengers and crew with a nasty hangover. | 0:01:16 | 0:01:23 | |
More than two million flights take off from the UK every year. | 0:01:42 | 0:01:45 | |
Most are uneventful, but some passengers cause problems, | 0:01:45 | 0:01:48 | |
even before takeoff. | 0:01:48 | 0:01:52 | |
June 21st, Wednesday afternoon. | 0:01:52 | 0:01:54 | |
Passengers at Manchester Airport were waiting to board an easyJet | 0:01:54 | 0:01:56 | |
flight to Antalya in Turkey. | 0:01:56 | 0:02:01 | |
It was my summer holiday with my boyfriend so yeah, | 0:02:01 | 0:02:04 | |
I was pretty excited. | 0:02:04 | 0:02:08 | |
Before we even boarded the plane, there was a party of four. | 0:02:08 | 0:02:11 | |
They were very, very drunk and loud and disruptive. | 0:02:11 | 0:02:20 | |
The flight took off. | 0:02:20 | 0:02:23 | |
Almost immediately passengers and crew became increasingly | 0:02:23 | 0:02:25 | |
disturbed by the drunken behaviour. | 0:02:25 | 0:02:29 | |
About 25 minutes into the flight, one of the two passengers started | 0:02:29 | 0:02:31 | |
to get extremely abusive. | 0:02:31 | 0:02:33 | |
She was shouting at the crew. | 0:02:33 | 0:02:35 | |
Who was the steward to tell her she can't drink any more, | 0:02:35 | 0:02:38 | |
she's on her holiday. | 0:02:38 | 0:02:40 | |
She just kept swearing and swearing and kicking off. | 0:02:40 | 0:02:42 | |
It was escalating. | 0:02:42 | 0:02:44 | |
I was more concerned about my immediate family because | 0:02:44 | 0:02:47 | |
they were getting very distressed. | 0:02:47 | 0:02:49 | |
Eventually when the stewards did manage to confiscate the alcohol... | 0:02:49 | 0:02:54 | |
A litre bottle of vodka. | 0:02:54 | 0:02:58 | |
..probably about a third left. | 0:02:58 | 0:02:59 | |
BLEEP! | 0:02:59 | 0:03:00 | |
The women's behaviour forced the crew to divert | 0:03:00 | 0:03:02 | |
to Stansted Airport. | 0:03:02 | 0:03:06 | |
Having delayed other passengers by three hours, | 0:03:06 | 0:03:09 | |
the women were removed by police and received penalty notices | 0:03:09 | 0:03:12 | |
for public order offences. | 0:03:12 | 0:03:15 | |
Enjoy your holiday in Stansted! | 0:03:15 | 0:03:17 | |
It's embarrassing, it really is embarrassing. | 0:03:17 | 0:03:24 | |
Planes are only diverted when the disruption is so extreme | 0:03:24 | 0:03:26 | |
that the crew can't carry out their duties and | 0:03:26 | 0:03:29 | |
ensure passenger safety. | 0:03:29 | 0:03:32 | |
BLEEP! | 0:03:32 | 0:03:34 | |
This police footage shows the arrest of a drunk, abusive | 0:03:34 | 0:03:38 | |
passenger after his behaviour caused his flight to be | 0:03:38 | 0:03:40 | |
diverted to Gatwick. | 0:03:40 | 0:03:46 | |
He was jailed for nine months for offences including assault. | 0:03:55 | 0:04:05 | |
It has been even worse - drunk passengers threatening to kill | 0:04:09 | 0:04:12 | |
or open plane doors and even attempts to enter the cockpit. | 0:04:12 | 0:04:18 | |
Arrests of passengers suspected of being drunk on a flight | 0:04:18 | 0:04:22 | |
or at a UK airport have risen by 50% in the past year. | 0:04:22 | 0:04:28 | |
Panorama contacted all 20 police forces with a major UK | 0:04:28 | 0:04:31 | |
airport on their patch. | 0:04:31 | 0:04:33 | |
The 18 that responded had made a total of 387 arrests. | 0:04:33 | 0:04:40 | |
These alcohol-fuelled incidents are now being | 0:04:40 | 0:04:43 | |
captured by holidaymakers armed with smartphones. | 0:04:43 | 0:04:53 | |
Being drunk on a flight is a criminal offence which can land | 0:04:56 | 0:05:01 | |
you in prison so why do so many of us hit the bar, | 0:05:01 | 0:05:04 | |
whatever the time, as soon as we get to the airport? | 0:05:04 | 0:05:09 | |
SINGING AND SHOUTING. | 0:05:09 | 0:05:15 | |
Baroness Hayter is founding director of Alcohol Concern. | 0:05:15 | 0:05:17 | |
The Labour peer is also vice-chair of the all-party group on alcohol | 0:05:17 | 0:05:21 | |
misuse and has long held misgivings about its sale at airports. | 0:05:21 | 0:05:26 | |
The way airports now work, the way they make their money, | 0:05:26 | 0:05:29 | |
is basically expecting passengers to spend a lot of money | 0:05:29 | 0:05:33 | |
when they are there. | 0:05:33 | 0:05:36 | |
The biggest thing that happens as you go is alcohol. | 0:05:36 | 0:05:45 | |
Cash spent on booze helps keep the price of air travel down. | 0:05:45 | 0:05:48 | |
But has it now become too readily available? | 0:05:48 | 0:05:50 | |
To find out for myself what's really going on, | 0:05:50 | 0:05:52 | |
I'm heading to the airport. | 0:05:52 | 0:05:53 | |
I'm meeting Baroness Hayter at Gatwick to catch an early morning | 0:05:53 | 0:05:56 | |
flight to Barcelona and to do some secret filming with my smartphone. | 0:05:56 | 0:06:02 | |
Hello! | 0:06:02 | 0:06:04 | |
Nice to see you. | 0:06:04 | 0:06:05 | |
Good to see you early morning. | 0:06:05 | 0:06:07 | |
It is very early. | 0:06:07 | 0:06:09 | |
What's the time? | 0:06:09 | 0:06:10 | |
Six o'clock. | 0:06:10 | 0:06:11 | |
Hm, I know. | 0:06:11 | 0:06:12 | |
I don't normally do this. | 0:06:12 | 0:06:14 | |
One in every ?5 spent in Duty Free at Gatwick is spent on alcohol. | 0:06:14 | 0:06:20 | |
The first thing is after the loos - a pub. | 0:06:20 | 0:06:24 | |
The Red Lion. | 0:06:24 | 0:06:25 | |
And you have never been in a pub at six o'clock | 0:06:25 | 0:06:28 | |
in the morning, have you? | 0:06:28 | 0:06:29 | |
Never. | 0:06:29 | 0:06:30 | |
So at 6am many people in this bar are boozing before breakfast.' | 0:06:30 | 0:06:34 | |
So I counted six pints already. | 0:06:34 | 0:06:36 | |
Yes. | 0:06:36 | 0:06:37 | |
There's a couple more Bellinis. | 0:06:37 | 0:06:40 | |
Make that seven. | 0:06:40 | 0:06:42 | |
A glass of white wine over there. | 0:06:42 | 0:06:43 | |
It's six o'clock in the morning. | 0:06:43 | 0:06:45 | |
The reason alcohol can be sold at airports this early is that once | 0:06:45 | 0:06:49 | |
you're through security, licensing laws governing | 0:06:49 | 0:06:53 | |
everywhere else don't apply. | 0:06:53 | 0:06:55 | |
If you go half a mile outside of Gatwick Airport, | 0:06:55 | 0:06:59 | |
you couldn't go and buy alcohol there in a pub, or anywhere else, | 0:06:59 | 0:07:04 | |
now why is this different? | 0:07:04 | 0:07:07 | |
As well as bars, cafes and restaurants serving drinks, | 0:07:07 | 0:07:10 | |
Gatwick, like most UK airports, has VIP lounges, open | 0:07:10 | 0:07:14 | |
from as early as 4am. | 0:07:14 | 0:07:17 | |
So for an entrance fee of around ?25 what do you get? | 0:07:17 | 0:07:21 | |
You serve yourself and you can drink as much as you like in | 0:07:21 | 0:07:30 | |
the three-hour window. | 0:07:30 | 0:07:35 | |
You serve yourself and you can drink as much as you like in | 0:07:48 | 0:07:51 | |
the three-hour window. | 0:07:51 | 0:07:52 | |
No, no, you go first. | 0:07:52 | 0:07:53 | |
We can drink as much as we want and we have just met | 0:07:53 | 0:07:56 | |
some really nice people but they said their flight | 0:07:56 | 0:07:59 | |
is delayed so they could well be in here 2-3 hours. | 0:07:59 | 0:08:01 | |
For that they will have had, I don't know, ?50 worth of drink, | 0:08:01 | 0:08:04 | |
something like that, just keep going. | 0:08:04 | 0:08:06 | |
Finally, before making our way to the gate, the Baroness | 0:08:06 | 0:08:10 | |
and I are offered free spirits. | 0:08:10 | 0:08:12 | |
Try this... | 0:08:12 | 0:08:16 | |
That was our tour, Gatwick Airport. | 0:08:22 | 0:08:26 | |
Gatwick Airport. | 0:08:26 | 0:08:27 | |
On our way to Barcelona. | 0:08:27 | 0:08:29 | |
From what you've just seen, would you say the airport | 0:08:29 | 0:08:31 | |
is responsibly selling alcohol? | 0:08:31 | 0:08:32 | |
No. | 0:08:32 | 0:08:33 | |
They are selling it where there's children, out of licensing hours. | 0:08:33 | 0:08:36 | |
They are selling it without asking how much people have already drunk. | 0:08:36 | 0:08:39 | |
They are making it very, very readily available. | 0:08:39 | 0:08:49 | |
This apparent free-for-all seems likely to be contributing | 0:08:49 | 0:08:53 | |
to the steady rise in drunken passengers boarding planes. | 0:08:53 | 0:09:02 | |
But many in the aviation industry were reluctant to talk | 0:09:02 | 0:09:06 | |
to Panorama about the problem. | 0:09:06 | 0:09:10 | |
We did persuade serving cabin crew to speak to us, | 0:09:10 | 0:09:14 | |
but only under the condition we kept their identity hidden. | 0:09:14 | 0:09:22 | |
I've found countless litre bottles of vodka. | 0:09:22 | 0:09:26 | |
We find bottles of Jagermeister, bottles of Bacardi, bottles of gin. | 0:09:26 | 0:09:32 | |
I took three miniatures off a lady, she said, "They told me I can drink | 0:09:32 | 0:09:37 | |
these on board the aircraft when I was in the Duty Free shop." | 0:09:37 | 0:09:41 | |
I've gone into the back galley and been cornered by somebody trying | 0:09:41 | 0:09:44 | |
to kiss me and making sexual moves on me, having to push them away. | 0:09:44 | 0:09:49 | |
It can go from anything, from banter to sexual assault really. | 0:09:49 | 0:09:55 | |
And all the colleagues who have been punched, | 0:09:55 | 0:09:58 | |
kicked and one of them was head-butted by a passenger. | 0:09:58 | 0:10:01 | |
It is definitely getting worse. | 0:10:01 | 0:10:04 | |
So to what extent do their experiences represent what is really | 0:10:04 | 0:10:08 | |
going on in the skies? | 0:10:08 | 0:10:10 | |
With the help of Unite the Union, Panorama has surveyed | 0:10:10 | 0:10:13 | |
4,000 UK cabin crew. | 0:10:13 | 0:10:16 | |
We've learnt that the overwhelming majority had witnessed drunken, | 0:10:16 | 0:10:20 | |
disruptive passenger behaviour most in the last year. | 0:10:20 | 0:10:26 | |
We also found that more than half of cabin crew who responded | 0:10:26 | 0:10:30 | |
to our survey had either experienced or witnessed verbal, | 0:10:30 | 0:10:35 | |
physical or sexual abuse by drunk passengers on board a UK flight. | 0:10:35 | 0:10:43 | |
Some airlines are reluctant to admit publicly this is a problem, | 0:10:43 | 0:10:46 | |
but behind the scenes, most are training their | 0:10:46 | 0:10:49 | |
staff to deal with it. | 0:10:49 | 0:10:53 | |
Where is this drink, where is it? | 0:10:53 | 0:10:55 | |
Excuse me, what seems to be the problem? | 0:10:55 | 0:10:57 | |
Can you sit down? | 0:10:57 | 0:11:01 | |
I wanted another drink, five minutes ago! | 0:11:01 | 0:11:05 | |
Mark Hardy from SecuriCare is a specialist in aviation | 0:11:05 | 0:11:09 | |
conflict management. | 0:11:09 | 0:11:13 | |
..then we're going to turn your hips and neck at the same | 0:11:13 | 0:11:16 | |
time and sweep off. | 0:11:16 | 0:11:18 | |
OK. | 0:11:18 | 0:11:20 | |
I'll just show it again. | 0:11:20 | 0:11:22 | |
'One in five of the cabin crew who responded to our survey had been | 0:11:22 | 0:11:26 | |
'physically abused during a UK flight, 'so realistic training | 0:11:26 | 0:11:28 | |
is crucial.' Now get us a drink. | 0:11:28 | 0:11:30 | |
Where's the crew? | 0:11:30 | 0:11:32 | |
There is an obvious problem developing with at least | 0:11:32 | 0:11:35 | |
one of the passengers. | 0:11:35 | 0:11:36 | |
He's kicking off. | 0:11:36 | 0:11:38 | |
He's kicking off. | 0:11:38 | 0:11:40 | |
Oi! | 0:11:40 | 0:11:41 | |
Excuse me, sir, what's the problem? | 0:11:41 | 0:11:43 | |
I want another drink. | 0:11:43 | 0:11:45 | |
We've been waiting ages. | 0:11:45 | 0:11:47 | |
How much have we paid for this flight? | 0:11:47 | 0:11:49 | |
Would you like a glass of water in the meantime? | 0:11:49 | 0:11:51 | |
No, I don't. | 0:11:51 | 0:11:52 | |
Do I look like the kind of guy that wants a glass of water? | 0:11:52 | 0:11:56 | |
We want... | 0:11:56 | 0:11:57 | |
Get us a proper drink. | 0:11:57 | 0:11:58 | |
..you to have a lovely holiday... | 0:11:58 | 0:12:00 | |
You want a proper drink, don't you? | 0:12:00 | 0:12:01 | |
But you need to calm down because you're disrupting other | 0:12:01 | 0:12:04 | |
passengers on the flight. | 0:12:04 | 0:12:05 | |
Where's... | 0:12:05 | 0:12:06 | |
It's intimidating and this is just a training exercise. | 0:12:06 | 0:12:08 | |
Imagine being on a flight where you can't get off | 0:12:08 | 0:12:10 | |
and it's happening for real. | 0:12:10 | 0:12:11 | |
I imagine it would be pretty scary and a lot to deal with. | 0:12:11 | 0:12:14 | |
Despite the scale of the problem, we struggled to get an airline | 0:12:14 | 0:12:17 | |
to appear on camera. | 0:12:17 | 0:12:20 | |
The low-cost operator Jet2 did agree to speak to us. | 0:12:20 | 0:12:23 | |
The Leeds-based firm flies 50,000 passengers a day. | 0:12:23 | 0:12:27 | |
I think we have to take a stand. | 0:12:27 | 0:12:29 | |
We will issue a sanction to a customer. | 0:12:29 | 0:12:32 | |
We will stop somebody from flying home if necessary. | 0:12:32 | 0:12:35 | |
And we have issued some lifetime bans. | 0:12:35 | 0:12:37 | |
A year ago, Jet2 also stopped serving alcohol on flights | 0:12:37 | 0:12:40 | |
taking off before 8am. | 0:12:40 | 0:12:43 | |
It may only be a limited step, but they are the only UK airline | 0:12:43 | 0:12:47 | |
to carry out any kind of ban on booze. | 0:12:47 | 0:12:50 | |
Do you think airports are doing enough? | 0:12:50 | 0:12:52 | |
I think they could do more. | 0:12:52 | 0:12:54 | |
I think the retailers could do more as well. | 0:12:54 | 0:12:56 | |
Two litre steins of beer in bars, mixers and miniatures in duty-free | 0:12:56 | 0:13:02 | |
shops which can only be there for one reason. | 0:13:02 | 0:13:06 | |
Items that are not sold on the high street so... | 0:13:06 | 0:13:08 | |
To drink on the plane? | 0:13:08 | 0:13:10 | |
Yes. | 0:13:10 | 0:13:12 | |
Diversions caused by drunken behaviour are rare, | 0:13:12 | 0:13:14 | |
but when they happen, they don't just inconvenience | 0:13:14 | 0:13:16 | |
passengers, they also cost airlines tens of thousands of pounds. | 0:13:16 | 0:13:23 | |
The worst routes I would say are Alicante, Ibiza, Palma. | 0:13:23 | 0:13:31 | |
They are on an aircraft, it's not a bar, it's not a nightclub. | 0:13:31 | 0:13:35 | |
That's why a lot of crew do end up hating their jobs. | 0:13:35 | 0:13:39 | |
They will quit because they just don't get paid enough | 0:13:39 | 0:13:42 | |
to deal with this. | 0:13:42 | 0:13:43 | |
When I was walking through the airport the other morning | 0:13:43 | 0:13:46 | |
and the bars were busy, I would say 80% of the tables | 0:13:46 | 0:13:49 | |
had alcohol on there. | 0:13:49 | 0:13:50 | |
At 4:45 in the morning. | 0:13:50 | 0:13:53 | |
What do you fancy drinking? | 0:13:53 | 0:13:55 | |
I'll have a cappuccino, please... | 0:13:55 | 0:13:57 | |
In June, Laura Hodge was about to fly from | 0:13:57 | 0:14:00 | |
Manchester Airport to Ibiza. | 0:14:00 | 0:14:02 | |
The former cabin crew manager off on her own holidays noticed | 0:14:02 | 0:14:05 | |
the drinking of lots of her fellow passengers was getting out of hand, | 0:14:05 | 0:14:08 | |
before departure. | 0:14:08 | 0:14:12 | |
The atmosphere in the airport was a bit like party | 0:14:12 | 0:14:16 | |
atmosphere I would say. | 0:14:16 | 0:14:18 | |
Downing drinks, counting down, cheering each other on. | 0:14:18 | 0:14:22 | |
The Ryanair flight was delayed by an hour. | 0:14:22 | 0:14:24 | |
Laura says the airline announced it would be a dry flight serving | 0:14:24 | 0:14:27 | |
no alcohol on board. | 0:14:27 | 0:14:30 | |
Passengers who didn't want to miss out, didn't have to go too far. | 0:14:30 | 0:14:35 | |
We noticed that there was a bar right next to the gate which looked | 0:14:35 | 0:14:38 | |
maybe like a temporary bar or something that wasn't normally | 0:14:38 | 0:14:42 | |
there and they were serving beer predominantly, I remember. | 0:14:42 | 0:14:47 | |
They are serving booze right next to you. | 0:14:47 | 0:14:50 | |
Right next to the gate, yes. | 0:14:50 | 0:14:52 | |
So completely mixed message, it's just crazy. | 0:14:52 | 0:14:55 | |
When the flight did eventually take off, Laura says the airline did | 0:14:55 | 0:14:58 | |
serve alcohol on board despite saying they wouldn't | 0:14:58 | 0:15:00 | |
and the drunken behaviour became even worse. | 0:15:00 | 0:15:03 | |
When people were getting on the plane, they work really | 0:15:03 | 0:15:07 | |
clearly, very drunk. | 0:15:07 | 0:15:09 | |
In my peripheral vision, out the corner of my eye, | 0:15:09 | 0:15:12 | |
I could see one of the ladies was obviously sat on the guy's knee. | 0:15:12 | 0:15:15 | |
They were definitely doing stuff that you probably shouldn't | 0:15:15 | 0:15:18 | |
be doing on a plane. | 0:15:18 | 0:15:22 | |
The woman in this video, which went viral, admitted being drunk, | 0:15:22 | 0:15:25 | |
but denied having sex. | 0:15:25 | 0:15:28 | |
An increasing number of drunken incidents in the sky have been | 0:15:28 | 0:15:31 | |
hitting the headlines, often captured on smartphones, but | 0:15:31 | 0:15:34 | |
the evidence isn't just anecdotal. | 0:15:34 | 0:15:38 | |
The Civil Aviation Authority responsible for flight safety | 0:15:38 | 0:15:41 | |
in the UK says that in the last five years, disruptive passenger | 0:15:41 | 0:15:44 | |
behaviour has seen a sixfold increase with industry experts | 0:15:44 | 0:15:47 | |
believing this rise is mostly down to alcohol. | 0:15:47 | 0:15:57 | |
Palma is the Majorcan capital and heart of the Balearic region | 0:16:08 | 0:16:12 | |
of islands, which includes Ibiza. | 0:16:12 | 0:16:16 | |
Local politician and alcohol campaign leader David Abril believes | 0:16:16 | 0:16:20 | |
too many British tourists are landing here drunk. | 0:16:20 | 0:16:24 | |
If there's a delay because of an incident in airports | 0:16:24 | 0:16:28 | |
like Glasgow or Manchester, it creates other delays | 0:16:28 | 0:16:33 | |
here in Majorca, so it can collapse the airport, | 0:16:33 | 0:16:37 | |
but I think we have to act not just for that, | 0:16:37 | 0:16:42 | |
but because of all of the problems created by this kind of tourism. | 0:16:42 | 0:16:48 | |
Just last month, the local department of tourism asked | 0:16:48 | 0:16:52 | |
the Spanish Government and the EU for new laws to address the problem. | 0:16:52 | 0:16:56 | |
So you want a ban on alcohol on flights from the UK coming | 0:16:56 | 0:17:01 | |
to the Balearic Islands? | 0:17:01 | 0:17:03 | |
Not only from the UK, we have that same problem | 0:17:03 | 0:17:06 | |
with flights from Germany. | 0:17:06 | 0:17:07 | |
What punishments would you like to see put in place | 0:17:07 | 0:17:10 | |
for people who break the rules if they came in? | 0:17:10 | 0:17:12 | |
There must be high fines because at the end, these kind | 0:17:12 | 0:17:15 | |
of people don't understand any other thing than really getting punished | 0:17:15 | 0:17:20 | |
by paying a lot of money. | 0:17:20 | 0:17:24 | |
Fewer drunks on UK flights would mean more peaceful journeys | 0:17:24 | 0:17:28 | |
for other passengers and aviation staff, but it's too late | 0:17:28 | 0:17:32 | |
for Ally Murphy, who recently quit her job as cabin crew manager | 0:17:32 | 0:17:36 | |
for Virgin Airlines. | 0:17:36 | 0:17:37 | |
Well, this is my last ever flight. | 0:17:37 | 0:17:40 | |
She often worked on long-haul flights but after 14 years | 0:17:40 | 0:17:43 | |
of service, the drunk and disruptive behaviour of passengers played a key | 0:17:43 | 0:17:48 | |
part in her decision to leave. | 0:17:48 | 0:17:51 | |
People just see us as barmaids in the sky. | 0:17:51 | 0:17:55 | |
I was pulled into an upper-class bed by a passenger who was feeling | 0:17:55 | 0:17:59 | |
particularly lucky, I guess. | 0:17:59 | 0:18:03 | |
They would touch your breasts or they'd touch your bum or your legs. | 0:18:03 | 0:18:07 | |
I mean, I've had hands going up my skirt before. | 0:18:07 | 0:18:12 | |
It's rage-inducing and you shouldn't have to deal with that. | 0:18:12 | 0:18:14 | |
There are two words to describe that, sexual harassment and it's | 0:18:14 | 0:18:17 | |
completely unacceptable. | 0:18:17 | 0:18:19 | |
Have you ever reported incidents like that? | 0:18:19 | 0:18:22 | |
I guess I never reported it to the police because, sadly, | 0:18:22 | 0:18:25 | |
and this is completely wrong and only really occurring to me now, | 0:18:25 | 0:18:28 | |
you kind of just accept it as part of the job | 0:18:28 | 0:18:30 | |
and it shouldn't be. | 0:18:30 | 0:18:32 | |
BLEEP. | 0:18:32 | 0:18:34 | |
BLEEP. | 0:18:34 | 0:18:36 | |
The link between alcohol and disruptive passenger behaviour | 0:18:36 | 0:18:39 | |
isn't news to the UK Aviation Industry, which believes it | 0:18:39 | 0:18:43 | |
has found a solution. | 0:18:43 | 0:18:48 | |
Only a year ago, a voluntary code was introduced which most of the big | 0:18:48 | 0:18:51 | |
airlines and airports signed up to. | 0:18:51 | 0:18:58 | |
The Code of Practice on Disruptive Passengers suggests | 0:18:58 | 0:19:01 | |
that airports and airlines should work together to limit | 0:19:01 | 0:19:05 | |
disruptive behaviour and sell alcohol responsibly, | 0:19:05 | 0:19:08 | |
so in the years since it was introduced, how | 0:19:08 | 0:19:11 | |
have things changed? | 0:19:11 | 0:19:14 | |
Well, not significantly according to our industry insiders. | 0:19:14 | 0:19:23 | |
The code of conduct isn't working. | 0:19:23 | 0:19:25 | |
It is all well and good for the Home Office to say that it is. | 0:19:25 | 0:19:29 | |
They're sat there in their offices behind their desks, | 0:19:29 | 0:19:32 | |
we're on the front line, we're seeing these | 0:19:32 | 0:19:35 | |
incidents on a daily, weekly and monthly basis. | 0:19:35 | 0:19:38 | |
It's the alcohol mainly in the Duty Free that's | 0:19:38 | 0:19:41 | |
a significant problem. | 0:19:41 | 0:19:43 | |
I have not noticed any improvement in any passenger behaviour | 0:19:43 | 0:19:46 | |
within the last year whatsoever. | 0:19:46 | 0:19:50 | |
None at all. | 0:19:50 | 0:19:52 | |
One in four cabin crew who responded to our survey were unaware | 0:19:52 | 0:19:56 | |
of the code of practice. | 0:19:56 | 0:19:58 | |
Of those who had heard of it, less than a quarter thought | 0:19:58 | 0:20:02 | |
it was working in reducing drunken passenger behaviour. | 0:20:02 | 0:20:06 | |
We've also been told by industry insiders that in practice | 0:20:06 | 0:20:10 | |
not much has changed. | 0:20:10 | 0:20:14 | |
I'm travelling to Manchester to see for myself and once again, | 0:20:14 | 0:20:18 | |
I'm secretly filming with my smartphone. | 0:20:18 | 0:20:22 | |
Manchester Airport is signed up to the voluntary code | 0:20:22 | 0:20:26 | |
of practice which commits them to the responsible selling | 0:20:26 | 0:20:29 | |
of alcohol to prevent or manage disruptive behaviour. | 0:20:29 | 0:20:34 | |
So just arrived at Manchester Airport, | 0:20:34 | 0:20:36 | |
made my way through security. | 0:20:36 | 0:20:40 | |
First thing on my right is a Starbucks. | 0:20:40 | 0:20:43 | |
Hang on a minute, beer, Pinot Grigio, a bit | 0:20:43 | 0:20:46 | |
of champagne, Peroni. | 0:20:46 | 0:20:48 | |
That's a shocker. | 0:20:48 | 0:20:50 | |
Meet you for a beer in Starbucks. | 0:20:50 | 0:20:52 | |
Never heard that before. | 0:20:52 | 0:20:54 | |
It's 5:30pm and there are 12 outlets selling alcohol | 0:20:54 | 0:20:58 | |
in this airport terminal, four of them are cafes that wouldn't | 0:20:58 | 0:21:01 | |
sell it on the high street. | 0:21:01 | 0:21:05 | |
Because licensing laws don't apply once you're through security, | 0:21:05 | 0:21:09 | |
any shop can sell alcohol. | 0:21:09 | 0:21:16 | |
They surely can't be selling beer in The Pasty Shop. | 0:21:16 | 0:21:20 | |
And they are. | 0:21:20 | 0:21:23 | |
Like everyone else, to get to my departure gate, | 0:21:23 | 0:21:26 | |
I have no choice but to go through the Duty Free shop. | 0:21:26 | 0:21:29 | |
Every type of alcohol you could want. | 0:21:29 | 0:21:32 | |
The store is owned by World Duty Free, which sells around | 0:21:32 | 0:21:35 | |
?365 million worth of wines and spirits at UK | 0:21:35 | 0:21:38 | |
airports every year. | 0:21:38 | 0:21:41 | |
Why buy one when you can buy two? | 0:21:41 | 0:21:45 | |
And before I'm even halfway through the store, I'm | 0:21:45 | 0:21:48 | |
being offered spirits for free. | 0:21:48 | 0:21:53 | |
There's a variety of alcohol promotions. | 0:21:59 | 0:22:02 | |
Miniatures, many with a double shot of spirits, are on a multi-buy | 0:22:02 | 0:22:06 | |
offer near the tills. | 0:22:06 | 0:22:08 | |
Four for three offers on miniatures before you get to the main counter, | 0:22:08 | 0:22:12 | |
where you pay for stuff. | 0:22:12 | 0:22:15 | |
Hang on a minute - these are normal miniatures, | 0:22:15 | 0:22:19 | |
the ones I'm used to seeing. | 0:22:19 | 0:22:20 | |
But the ones next to them are massive. | 0:22:20 | 0:22:22 | |
They're not miniatures, they're 20cl. | 0:22:22 | 0:22:24 | |
VOICEOVER: To me, it's hard to see why anyone | 0:22:24 | 0:22:26 | |
would buy miniatures here, unless it's to drink on the plane. | 0:22:26 | 0:22:29 | |
But the code of conduct says that staff must advise | 0:22:29 | 0:22:31 | |
passengers not to do so. | 0:22:31 | 0:22:36 | |
Although I've been verbally advised not to drink my purchases | 0:22:40 | 0:22:43 | |
on the plane, in reality, there's nothing stopping me. | 0:22:43 | 0:22:47 | |
I mean, that is a joke. | 0:22:47 | 0:22:49 | |
Specifically asked her if I could drink them on the plane - | 0:22:49 | 0:22:52 | |
she said no, I wasn't allowed to. | 0:22:52 | 0:22:54 | |
And then she's given me them in a bag that is completely unsealed. | 0:22:54 | 0:22:58 | |
Now, tell me, how are you going to stop someone from drinking these? | 0:22:58 | 0:23:08 | |
At the next Duty Free shop, the advice about drinking | 0:23:08 | 0:23:11 | |
purchased alcohol on a flight is very different. | 0:23:11 | 0:23:13 | |
INDISTINCT. | 0:23:13 | 0:23:14 | |
Um... | 0:23:14 | 0:23:18 | |
This advice directly contravenes the code of practice which this | 0:23:21 | 0:23:25 | |
airport is signed up to. | 0:23:25 | 0:23:28 | |
Since the year 2000, duty-free and travel retail sales | 0:23:28 | 0:23:32 | |
in Europe have doubled as the price of our flights has come down. | 0:23:32 | 0:23:37 | |
How big a role does alcohol play in keeping flights in the air? | 0:23:37 | 0:23:40 | |
The cost of flying pretty much anywhere is probably about half | 0:23:40 | 0:23:44 | |
what it was 20 years ago. | 0:23:44 | 0:23:46 | |
Therefore, the airlines, the airports, have to make money | 0:23:46 | 0:23:50 | |
somewhere, and they make a lot of money from the sale of drink, | 0:23:50 | 0:23:54 | |
either to you at a bar or at a duty-free shop. | 0:23:54 | 0:23:58 | |
Booze now accounts for around 20% of total duty-free sales | 0:23:58 | 0:24:01 | |
in UK airports. | 0:24:01 | 0:24:06 | |
So is the rising drunken behaviour which we've uncovered linked | 0:24:06 | 0:24:08 | |
to the increasing importance of revenue from alcohol? | 0:24:08 | 0:24:11 | |
I took our investigation findings to the body representing | 0:24:11 | 0:24:15 | |
the airport industry. | 0:24:15 | 0:24:17 | |
We've conducted a large survey of UK cabin crew. | 0:24:17 | 0:24:20 | |
We found a significant proportion blamed drunk and disruptive | 0:24:20 | 0:24:22 | |
behaviour on the airports not selling alcohol responsibly. | 0:24:22 | 0:24:25 | |
I don't accept that the airports don't sell alcohol responsibly. | 0:24:25 | 0:24:29 | |
The sale of alcohol, per se, is not a problem. | 0:24:29 | 0:24:34 | |
It's the misuse of it and drinking to excess and then behaving badly. | 0:24:34 | 0:24:39 | |
The voluntary code of conduct says one thing, but the messaging | 0:24:39 | 0:24:43 | |
in your airport experience is very different. | 0:24:43 | 0:24:45 | |
At Gatwick Airport, we specifically asked staff if we could drink a lot. | 0:24:45 | 0:24:49 | |
They told us, "Go for it." | 0:24:49 | 0:24:52 | |
Right, OK. | 0:24:52 | 0:24:54 | |
Well, you can drink a lot. | 0:24:54 | 0:24:55 | |
But is that responsible? | 0:24:55 | 0:24:57 | |
If we're talking about responsible selling of alcohol, paying ?20 | 0:24:57 | 0:24:59 | |
or ?30 before you're about to fly, being given a three-hour | 0:24:59 | 0:25:02 | |
window to drink as much as you want and to be told, | 0:25:02 | 0:25:05 | |
"Go for it"...? | 0:25:05 | 0:25:07 | |
I think what we are encouraging is that all of our lounge staff... | 0:25:07 | 0:25:10 | |
If they are airport lounges - sometimes they're airline lounges, | 0:25:10 | 0:25:13 | |
they're a mix of providers. | 0:25:13 | 0:25:16 | |
But the point is, they should be saying, "Drink responsibly." | 0:25:16 | 0:25:19 | |
Within a Duty Free shop at Manchester Airport, | 0:25:19 | 0:25:21 | |
we asked those selling spirits, including miniatures, | 0:25:21 | 0:25:24 | |
if we could consume the alcohol on the plane. | 0:25:24 | 0:25:28 | |
One told us, "Unofficially, I think you'll get away with it." | 0:25:28 | 0:25:33 | |
What's your response to that? | 0:25:33 | 0:25:35 | |
Well, you would need to talk to World Duty Free. | 0:25:35 | 0:25:38 | |
But my view is, well, they shouldn't have said that | 0:25:38 | 0:25:40 | |
because it is not acceptable to be drinking your alcohol on the plane. | 0:25:40 | 0:25:44 | |
Full stop. | 0:25:44 | 0:25:46 | |
So, of course, that is something that those staff either have not | 0:25:46 | 0:25:49 | |
been trained properly or are behaving irresponsibly. | 0:25:49 | 0:25:53 | |
Is that worrying? | 0:25:53 | 0:25:55 | |
And that's the kind of thing... | 0:25:55 | 0:25:57 | |
Well, of course it's worrying. | 0:25:57 | 0:25:59 | |
And that's why we're training... | 0:25:59 | 0:26:01 | |
We're working with the retailers and staff to actually | 0:26:01 | 0:26:03 | |
make sure that they do understand what their... | 0:26:03 | 0:26:05 | |
What the rules are. | 0:26:05 | 0:26:06 | |
World Duty Free told us that it displays... | 0:26:06 | 0:26:15 | |
But the insiders we've spoken to believe the voluntary code isn't | 0:26:24 | 0:26:27 | |
enough to police the industry, citing the lack of alcohol licensing | 0:26:27 | 0:26:32 | |
laws at airports for the virtual free-for-all when it comes | 0:26:32 | 0:26:36 | |
to pre-flight boozing. | 0:26:36 | 0:26:39 | |
Four months ago, a House of Lords Select Committee looking | 0:26:39 | 0:26:42 | |
into licensing laws published a report which said that airports | 0:26:42 | 0:26:46 | |
need to be brought into line. | 0:26:46 | 0:26:48 | |
The Government disagreed. | 0:26:48 | 0:26:51 | |
The Home Office claimed it would be too difficult for their inspectors | 0:26:51 | 0:26:54 | |
to get through security to inspect bars and restaurants, | 0:26:54 | 0:26:58 | |
to make sure they're complying with the licensing law. | 0:26:58 | 0:27:02 | |
They said there was no need, because the voluntary code was working. | 0:27:02 | 0:27:08 | |
Committee chair and Conservative peer Baroness McIntosh | 0:27:08 | 0:27:12 | |
is baffled by this position. | 0:27:12 | 0:27:15 | |
We didn't hear one shred of evidence to show that the voluntary code | 0:27:15 | 0:27:19 | |
was either working now, or had any possible vestige | 0:27:19 | 0:27:24 | |
of success in working any time soon. | 0:27:24 | 0:27:27 | |
Meanwhile, the incidence of air rage goes up daily. | 0:27:27 | 0:27:30 | |
I would urge, on behalf of the Committee, the Home Office | 0:27:30 | 0:27:34 | |
to really, really take this problem seriously. | 0:27:34 | 0:27:40 | |
The Home Office declined our request for an interview but, | 0:27:40 | 0:27:43 | |
in a statement, said... | 0:27:43 | 0:27:49 | |
This response is expected in the autumn. | 0:27:51 | 0:27:55 | |
Sales of alcohol at most European and US airports do | 0:27:55 | 0:28:00 | |
require an alcohol licence. | 0:28:00 | 0:28:03 | |
The industry insiders we've met think it's time the UK | 0:28:03 | 0:28:07 | |
brought in the same rules. | 0:28:07 | 0:28:08 | |
I think, ultimately, we are there for safety, | 0:28:08 | 0:28:11 | |
and that shouldn't be forgotten at the cost of people making money. | 0:28:11 | 0:28:15 | |
And I feel, personally, that it will take something | 0:28:15 | 0:28:17 | |
more serious to happen - say there's an accident - | 0:28:17 | 0:28:21 | |
before the CAA and the airlines step in and make a change. | 0:28:21 | 0:28:25 | |
Campaigners believe we'll only see a reduction in drunken behaviour | 0:28:25 | 0:28:29 | |
at 35,000 feet if controls on alcohol sales are introduced. | 0:28:29 | 0:28:34 | |
But a clamp-down could mean reduced revenues for airports, | 0:28:34 | 0:28:38 | |
and all of us paying more for our flights. | 0:28:38 | 0:28:44 |