Southwest Airlines Will Not Bring Back Alcohol Until 2022

Southwest Airlines, the world’s largest low-cost carrier, has reportedly decided to postpone the resumption of alcohol sales onboard its flights until next year. The Dallas-based budget operator has made the decision in conjunction with the recently announced extension of the US’s onboard mask mandate, which is now set to end in January 2022.

Southwest has postponed the resumption of alcohol sales again. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Alcohol resumption put on ice

Passengers hoping to tuck into a can of beer or a bottle of wine on upcoming Southwest Airlines flights are now going to have to wait a little while longer to do so. According to reports in USA Today, this won’t be possible until at least January 2022. This comes after the airline issued a memo to flight attendants regarding onboard service

Southwest issued the memo in response to the extension of the TSA’s mask mandate at airports and on planes. Fort Worth-based US legacy carrier and oneworld founding member American Airlines recently made a similar decision regarding economy class alcohol sales. Randall Miller, Southwest’s Senior Manager of Inflight Operations, states in the memo:

“With the mask mandate being extended to January 18th, 2022, there are no current plans to bring back alcohol prior to January 2022.”

Southwest had previously delayed the resumption due to onboard disruption. Photo: Getty Images

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Several postponements

This is not the first time that Southwest has elected to push back the date of its onboard alcohol sales resumption. Indeed, the low-cost giant had initially planned to allow its passengers to purchase alcohol once again from June this year.

However, a rise in abusive behavior onboard, culminating in an assault on a flight attendant who lost two teeth, caused Southwest to rethink its timeline. Indeed, Simple Flying reported in May that the carrier, along with American Airlines in economy class, would be delaying the resumption. Head of Inflight Operations, Sonya Lacore, stated in a memo that:

“Based on the rise in passenger disruptions in flight, I’ve made the decision to re-evaluate the restart of alcohol service onboard.”

October will see Southwest diversify its soft drink offering. Photo: Vincenzo Pace | Simple Flying

Increased soft drink selection next month

Passenger disruption has also increased at airports in recent years. This resulted in FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson appealing to airports to stop selling ‘to go’ alcohol. However, whether at an airport or onboard a flight, a lack of alcohol doesn’t necessarily mean a lack of choice. This will be evident on Southwest flights as of next month.

Specifically, USA Today reports that the carrier plans to diversify its soft drink offering as of October. Passengers currently only have a choice of four soft drinks: Coca-Cola, Diet Coke, 7-Up, and canned water. They have to order these by holding up one to four fingers.

However, next month will see the return of Southwest’s traditional seatback pocket menus. With this, the airline will also have a wider selection of soft drinks available. The new choices include cranberry cocktail juice, ginger ale, orange juice, seltzer water, and tonic water.

What do you make of Southwest’s decision to postpone its resumption of alcohol sales? Will this make you more or less likely to want to fly with the airline? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

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