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Reader Barbara writes:

I purchased some Bailey’s on a Southwest flight. I got it without a cap in a small bottle. I asked for the cap so I wouldn’t spill it during the flight. The flight attendant grudgingly gave it to me. After I was done, I wanted to take the EMPTY bottle home with me. I showed her it was empty. She required/demanded that I throw it away. No explanation. Is this an FAA regulation, or is Southwest just overly obsessive about alcohol and containers?

Perhaps she really cared about recycling?

I think you’ve got an overzealous flight attendant interpreting “open container” laws in an overly strict fashion. I’m pretty sure there’s no FAA, TSA, ATF, FTC, IMF, or CIA rule banning empty mini-bottles on airplanes. I sure hope not.

Heck, next time, you could always bring your own under-3 ounce mini bottle on board (loaded in a one-quart plastic bag, of course, for security screening). You’re not technically allowed to drink your own alcohol on board a flight in the U.S., but you can argue that the bottle was yours, and you’re keeping it.

But hopefully that was the worst thing to happen on that flight, and you weren’t hitting the sauce to take your mind off the rest of your in-flight experience…

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