Apparently You Can’t Drink Your Own Booze on a Plane
Many years ago I was going through an airport that had a shop selling whiskey. I had some time on a layover and decided I would stop in and see what they had. To my delightful surprise, they had free samples.
So I sampled a couple of whiskeys and ended up buying a small bottle. After I purchased the bottle, the cashier not only put it in a bag, but they also put a big ass sticker on the bag sealing it up. The sticker said something to the effect of "Do Not Drink Until at Final Destination." The sticker didn't really surprise me because I figured it had something to do with the airlines requiring them so you're forced to drink their booze on the plane.
Well, it's not the airlines that are preventing you from buying your own booze and taking them on the plane. I bought my booze past the check point, so that wasn't really an issue. But if you really wanted to, you could fill up some mini bottles of shampoo with whiskey and it would get through TSA just fine. It's the Federal Aviation Administration that is playing the bad guy in this one.
According to Section 121.575 of the FAA's Code of Flight Regulations, no one "may drink any alcoholic beverage aboard an aircraft unless the certificate holder operating the aircraft has served that beverage to him."
And it's not a cheap fine if you get caught drinking your own booze on a plane either.
"A violation of the FAA regulation on alcoholic beverages would warrant a civil penalty of up to $11,000 ($13,066 with inflation adjustments)," an FAA spokesperson confirmed to MUNCHIES.
Why do they regulate the booze this way? Well, it's to make sure people aren't hammered and the flight attendants are technically doubling as bartenders on the flight. You aren't allowed to board a flight if you're drunk, which also means you aren't allowed to get sh*tfaced on your flight. So they need the flight attendants to monitor the consumption. No matter how ridiculously priced the booze on a plane is.