Southwest extended a pause on sales of alcohol in May after a spate of unruly passenger incidents including one that turned violent.
The move further heightened tension between the airline and its 16,000-member flight attendants' union, which called the resumption of alcohol sales "unsafe and irresponsible."
The Dallas-based airline originally paused alcohol and other services in March 2020 at the start of the pandemic. Last week, the airline's COO said the carrier would likelyStarting Feb. 16, Southwest will sell alcohol, including beer, wine, rum, tequila and vodka on flights at least 176 miles long. It is also said it will also add tonic water, apple juice, Coke Zero, Dr. Pepper, hot tea and hot cocoa to current lineup of non-alcoholic beverages.
All U.S. airlines slashed onboard service during the pandemic and food and other beverage services are starting to make a comeback.scaled back some recent service expansions under pressure from flight attendants unions, which argued it would increase the amount of time passengers would not be wearing face masks, which are federally mandated on board, though they can be lowered when drinking or eating. The mask mandate is in effect through at least March 18.
United States Latest News, United States Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Spain to scrap mandatory outdoor masks from Feb 10The Spanish government will lift the requirement for people to wear masks outdoors as an anti-coronavirus measure from next Thursday, Health Minister Carolina Darias said on Friday.
Read more »
Top 50 daily boys basketball stat leaders for Thursday, Feb. 3Check out leaders in points, rebound, assists, blocks and steals.
Read more »
Beijing Games see 55 COVID-19 cases on Feb 2, highest daily tallyA total of 55 new COVID-19 infections were found among Olympic Games-related personnel on Feb. 2, the chair of the Beijing 2022 medical expert panel said on Thursday, the highest daily tally so far.
Read more »
Crypto Biz: The crypto industry is more bullish than the Bitcoin charts, Jan. 27–Feb. 2Are you nervous about crypto winter, anon? Whatever you do, don't sell your Bitcoin to Michael Saylor. CT Business Editor forgeforth_ has the latest scoop on the business of blockchain in this week's Crypto Biz newsletter.
Read more »
Boosted Americans 97 times less likely to die of virus than unvaccinated; CDC predicts 75,000 more deaths by Feb. 26: Live COVID-19 updatesArmy commanders have been ordered to begin discharging unvaccinated soldiers with no approved or pending exemption request. Latest COVID news.
Read more »