The Case for Gambling in Airlines

In the cutthroat business that is the airline industry, companies are constantly searching for innovative ways to enhance their in flight entertainment. And what better way than by allowing the passengers the luxury of playing their favorite casino games?

The idea of gambling in airlines is not really new. During the early 1990s, companies like Singapore Airlines, Virgin, Lauda Air and Swissair had begun issuing lottery tickets, and installing Video Poker and slot machines in the plane.

While they proved to be a hit among passengers, playing casino games on planes took a hit when Swissair flight 111 crashed off Nova Scotia in September 1998, killing over 200 people. According to the investigators, the fire broke out in the gambling/entertainment center at the back.

Since then, some countries, in particular the United States, have enacted laws prohibiting gambling in airlines. The Gordon amendment, passed by Congress in 1994, bans any gambling or casino game on any aircraft carrier from entering American airspace.

But most other nations have not followed suit; as the technology has improved tremendously, and safety standards more secure, other airlines from other countries have allowed for the installation of casino games. This has helped increase the profits of those airlines, something that cannot be said for American plane companies.

Back in 1991, when American cruise ships were facing stiff competition from foreign vessels that allowed gambling, the U.S. Congress passed the United States-Flag Cruise Ship Competitiveness Act of 1991, whereby US cruise ships could operate casino games once in international waters.

Yet the same rule has not been allowed for American airlines. This double standard in fact, can be seen as a reflection of the entire attitude by legislators on gambling in general.

While other European countries, through the earnings of casino operators, have been reaping the benefits of legalizing the activity, the opposite is true in America. In spite of the fact that their airlines are among the most hardest hit by the economic difficulties, Congress has still not given them the leeway it has allowed for the shipping industry.

In the case of gambling in airlines, the old argument that the activity cannot be supervised cannot even hold, as the planes can easily restrict the use and access of slot machines and other games to the adults.

By being more lenient to the airline industry, not only will it help them profit, but the revenues generated from these gambling activities can also aid the government in administering its other projects through the collection of taxes.