Yesterday Nashville International Airport announced passengers can now purchase alcohol at a restaurant/tavern in the concessions area and carry said alcohol throughout the airport—well, post security. This decision leaves me with mixed feelings.
Yes, there is the fact that people prefer to be at their gate and waiting rather than in the restaurant and bar. It’s a comfort thing. When sitting at their gate waiting to board, they know they will not miss their flight. They can SEE when that flight begins to board and HEAR the calls to board.
While it would be nice sometimes to sit in the gate area and drink a glass of wine or beer, there are a few potential issues with this concept. The big one is underage drinking. According to news reports, to-go cups will be labeled so that it’s possible to see who sold a minor alcohol. But what if the restaurant or bar wasn’t the one who gave that kid alcohol? What if a kid successfully solicited someone else to buy the alcohol for him? What if an older person in their travel party purchased it? As the mother of teenagers, I know full well how teens circumvent the legal drinking age. We would be fools to think that would never happen at the airport.
And who is going to police this? I don’t know about you, but I’d rather police watch out for criminals, terrorists or unruly individuals than look for that underage kid drinking beer.
We’ve read about several unruly passengers on airplanes as well. Do a Google search for “drunk passenger removed from planes” and you will see what I’m talking about. I’m not sure we want to make it easier to get drunk before one’s flight.
Don’t get me wrong. I’m all for the passenger experience. And I might on occasion like to be able to carry my wine with me throughout the terminal. But this needs to be thought through a little more carefully.
As a coworker just asked, What next? Alcohol kiosks or cocktail waitresses in the hold areas?
