PAS Youth deputy chief Ahmad Fadhli Shaari asked if the airline was waiting for one of its planes to crash due to an intoxicated passenger before acting to remove alcoholic beverages from its menu.
Fadhli said it was time for MAS employees to urge the company’s management and government to make a drastic decision on the policy to serve alcohol during flights.
News reports had stated British tourist Maxine Williams, 57, a hospital receptionist from London, was returning from a holiday in Malaysia in January. She was drunk and became abusive when the flight attendant refused to serve her more alcohol.
The woman will be sentenced at a later date.
Fadhli said the passenger was drunk for 10 hours during the flight to London, and hurled racist insults and tried to attack the MAS stewardess.
On May 31, MAS flight MH128 from Melbourne to Kuala Lumpur was forced to turn back 10 minutes into the flight after the captain was alerted by cabin crew of a passenger attempting to enter the cockpit and threatening to blow up the place.
Sri Lankan national Manodh Marks, 25, was overpowered by crew and other passengers.
Deputy Transport Minister Abdul Aziz Kaprawi said he was believed to be drunk.
However, later, Australian police said Marks had been released from a psychiatric facility just hours before he boarded the plane.
Following the incident, Fadhli had called on the government to emulate Middle East countries such as Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Egypt and Bahrain that were more stringent about consumption of alcohol on commercial aircraft.
He said a ban on serving alcohol on MAS fights would bring “blessings” as alcohol was damned in Islam.
However, the Malaysian Association of Tour and Travel Agents (Matta) dismissed the call as “ridiculous”, saying MAS is a commercial airline and caters to all races.
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