Okay folks, the summer's over, and with it, the free booze.  According to the latest Purser Bulletin, "a concern has been raised regarding the widespread use of complimentary liquor in both the domestic and international markets."

This must be a prevalent problem in the domestic market, as the Purser Bulletin's creators even got a couple of representatives from Inflight Safety and Security to contribute quotes to the story.

The article goes on to say: General public relations and goodwill do not constitute eligibility for complimentary alcoholic beverages. Company policy has been clarified in the March Inflight Handbook revision.  Alcohol can be a contributing factor in customer-related inflight disruptions.

You really never can tell about people.  I once had some guy (a small Asian gentlemen, quiet as a mouse in UF) quickly down 2 and 3/4 bottles of champagne on a LAX-ORD flight.  This guy acted completely normal.  I mean, you couldn't even tell he'd drunk anything stronger than stale green tea.  The only indication he'd consumed the bubbly was when his face grew about as red as a tomato.

But WHQ does have a good point and I agree with them on this one about the free alcohol.  I would imagine that over 1/2 of all 'problems' I've encountered on flights had some element of alcohol in the equation.