Dry Flights?

On May 20, the Russian news outlet Interfax reported that the Justice Ministry is considering (again) introducing pre-flight intoxication control for passengers and a potential ban on alcohol on all flights. Officials also proposed creating a public no-fly list shared by all airlines operating in Russia.

During the thirteenth session of the International Legal Forum at St. Petersburg, intoxication on planes became a topic of conversation. Deputy director of the Ministry of Justice's Department of Registration of Legal Acts, Anastasia Leletina, proposed prohibiting alcohol-intoxicated passengers from flying. "I understand that this is a difficult mechanism to realize, but it is necessary to think whether it is not worth introducing it, and at the boarding stage, maybe, grant [the power] to the employees of the transport security agency [to prevent boarding],” Leletina said. 

Leletina's initiative was received with enthusiasm by Tatiana Butskaya, deputy chairperson of the Duma Committee on Family Protection, Fatherhood, Motherhood, and Childhood. Butskaya proposed checking passengers with a breathalyzer before boarding. The Duma committee chairperson did not specify what alcohol concentration would be considered a red line.

Leletina pushed for increasing fines from R1000 to up to R500,000 ($12 to $6,290). She further advocated for prolonging the amount of time “air hooligans” would remain on a no-fly list and suggested creating a publicly available no-fly list rather than allowing airlines to have their own. Foreign airlines would also adhere to the list.

Leletina blamed aggressive behavior during flights on anxiety. To remedy misbehavior, she suggested airplanes play “relaxing music” during takeoff and landing. The head of Aeroflot’s legal branch, Anna Khomyakova, said the idea of playing music was “very interesting,” but remained skeptical of banning alcohol because “many of our passengers drink to alleviate their fear of flying.”