Each hearing involves at least a magistrate, a clerk, a government lawyer, a court-appointed defense lawyer and people to transport the prisoner. The case will take up the time of a grand jury and, if it goes to trial, perhaps a jury. Not to mention a judge, lawyers, court employees and witnesses. The taxpayers will foot a hefty tab for all of this. This isn't the first air rage case we've seen, either.
Incidents seem to occur more often on long flights.
Anchorage is the logical dumping ground for problem passengers on the haul between the U.S. and Asia. The airlines will keep ejecting people who act up in the air here, and their cases will continue to cost us money. We could, of course, change the way we deal with these problems. Maybe that would convince the airlines to quite serving so much alcohol. The defendants usually claim something else, like drugs, was to blame.