In April, American Airlines will reintroduce the sale of alcoholic beverages on domestic and short-haul foreign flights.
On April 18, American Airlines will “slowly reinstate its buy-on-board” program, which allows light food and alcoholic beverage purchases on flights exceeding 250 miles, according to a spokeswoman.
“American will gradually return its buy-on-board option, which includes alcohol and light snacks, to domestic main cabin flights beginning April 18. Customers flying above 250 miles will be able to purchase beer, wine, and spirits “According to the spokeswoman
American Airlines also revealed that “touchless ordering” will be available to passengers later in 2022.
At the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in early 2020, the company, like many others, stopped selling alcoholic beverages in-flight.
Due to rowdy passengers instigating violent situations onboard aircraft, American Airlines has delayed the restart of alcoholic beverage sales.
In 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration received nearly 6,000 reports of disruptive aircraft passengers, resulting in 1,075 investigations.
The FAA conducted an average of 136 investigations per year between 2016 and 2020.
On Feb. 16, Southwest Airlines reinstated alcoholic beverage sales on most flights of 176 miles or greater, while United Airlines reinstated limited alcoholic beverage sales on June 1, 2021.