American Airlines To Not Serve Alcohol In Flights Till January 2022

(RTTNews) - American Airlines (AAL) said on Thursday that it would not serve alcohol in the main cabin of its flights until January 18 next year, which is when the U.S mandate on masks in public transportation will expire.

The airlines had suspended serving alcohol in the main cabin during early summer and was all set to start serving again on September 13, when the mask mandate was earlier supposed to expire. However, the Transportation Security Administration had earlier this week said that the ban would be extended "to minimize the spread of Covid-19 on public transportation."

The decision to stop serving alcohol in the main cabin is part of the Federal Aviation Administration's move to crack down on unruly passengers.

On Thursday alone, the FAA declared more than $500,000 in new fines against unruly passengers who refused to wear masks, hit flight attendants and even threw luggage across the cabin.

Earlier this week, the FAA had begun 682 investigations into possible violations of federal laws on the basis of 3,900 reported incidents.

The alcohol ban was first put in place to avoid interaction between airline staff and passengers and it was extended till January next year in the backdrop of increasing Covid-19 cases, due to the Delta variant.