Now American Won’t Offer Alcohol in Main Cabin Until September

American Airlines on Saturday told its flight attendants not to serve alcohol to customers in the main cabin until at least September.

American joins Southwest Airlines, which earlier this week announced a similar policy.

Both carriers cited the rising number of physical incidents among passengers – and more disturbingly, between passengers and crew. The situation has grown increasingly more violent, including an incident last week incident in which a Southwest Airlines flight attendant lost two teeth after allegedly being assaulted by a passenger.

American made the decision and relayed it in an internal memo to flight attendants Saturday, saying economy passengers will have to wait until at least Sept. 13 before they can order a mid-flight drink, according to USA Today.

“Over the past week we’ve seen some of these stressors create deeply disturbing situations onboard aircraft. Let me be clear: American Airlines will not tolerate assault or mistreatment of our crews,” Vice President of Flight Service Brady Byrnes said in the memo. “While we appreciate that customers and crewmembers are eager to return to ‘normal,’ we will move cautiously and deliberately when restoring pre-COVID practices.

Alcohol sales in American Airlines’ main cabins were first suspended in late March 2020 to limit interactions between passengers and flight attendants amid the COVID pandemic.