Ryannair steward faces jail after drinking on flight

 

Mr Thompson has subsequently admitted he was impaired by drink and now faces jail when he returns to Chelmsford Magistrates' court in August.

 

In May of this year, police scrambled to Stansted runway after an alarm was raised regarding the stewards behaviour. He was subsequently breathalysed and was found to have 50mg per 100 millimetres of breath, making him five times over the 35mg legal driving limit.

 

Ryanair's company code of ethics says, "being impaired by drugs or alcohol while performing company business" is subject to disciplinary action. Crew are not permitted to drink alcohol during a flight or even up to 8 hours before their shift, inline with the European Aviation Safety Agency regulations.

 

Footage taken by a 'horrified' passenger shows Mr Thompson trying to sneakily drink wine by the exit door. In one clip, he turned away to take a shot of whisky and gagged on his drink as he said, "don't make it obvious" to a colleague. 

 

Thompson's defence lawyer said that his client and alcohol "were not the best of friends". He has since been sacked by the Lauda Europe (subsidiary of Ryanair) following the incident and is on bail awaiting sentencing.