Alaska Airlines may be on the hook for hundreds of thousands of dollars for allegedly allowing intoxicated passengers to board its planes despite federal regulations prohibiting it.
On Tuesday, the Federal Aviation Administration announced it was considering fining the Seattle-based airline $165,000 for allegedly allowing drunk passengers onto several flights over a one-year period.
According to the FAA, Alaska Airlines allegedly permitted intoxicated passengers to board 11 flights between February 2024 and February 2025.
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Federal regulations strictly prohibit clearly intoxicated passengers from boarding commercial flights and have entrusted the responsibility of enforcing these rules to airline gate agents and each flight’s pilot in command. Failure to enforce these regulations often result in strict financial penalties.
The FAA says Alaska has 30 days to respond to its enforcement letter.
Alaska Airlines says it took the allegations levied by the FAA seriously and cooperated with the federal agency’s audit while making “meaningful changes” in the interim.
Rabble News reached out to a company spokesperson for comment regarding the FAA’s potential fine and received the following statement:
We take seriously our responsibility to provide a safe and secure environment for our guests and employees. We participated fully with the FAA’s audit of our policies and practices as it relates to intoxicated guests on board our aircraft. Since the FAA shared these concerns with us over a year ago, we made meaningful changes to ensure compliance with the FAA’s expectations – including enhanced training for all flight attendants and customer service agents. We respect the results of the FAA’s audit and are confident in the changes that have been in place for the last year to ensure our shared standards are being met.
Alaska Airlines spokesperson
Alaska Airlines is latest carrier to face FAA fines
Tuesday’s notice to Alaska comes weeks after the FAA made similar threats to American Airlines and Southwest Airlines over alleged drug and alcohol violations.
Both airlines were accused of failing to conduct required follow-up drug screenings for employees who had previously tested positive for drugs and/or alcohol. While the allegations against American Airlines’ involved only flight attendants, the Southwest employees apparently included flight attendants, airline mechanics and even an undisclosed amount of pilots.
Employees for both airlines were said to be involved in “safety-sensitive functions” at the time of those lapsed follow-up screenings.
American and Southwest were also given 30 days to respond.
