Best Bar None: the aviation industry’s first alcohol responsibility training

THE CONTEXT

Onboard alcohol has become a real safety and duty-of-care issue. In 2022, UK airlines reported more than 1,000 disruptive passenger incidents, nearly triple the number in 2019, and most were linked to alcohol. A single alcohol-related diversion can cost an airline up to £80,000, on top of the human cost: more than half of cabin crew say they have witnessed or experienced abuse from intoxicated passengers, including physical and sexual assault. Despite all of this, the industry had no formal training for responsible alcohol service in the cabin.

WHAT WE DID

In June 2025 Altura partnered with Best Bar None, the UK Home Office-backed body that sets the alcohol management standard across UK hospitality, to launch the aviation industry’s first specialised alcohol responsibility training programme. Built for cabin crew and inflight retail teams, it trains staff to spot the early signs of intoxication, handle difficult situations with confidence, and apply each airline’s alcohol policy consistently. It is delivered through LUZ, our crew training app, so it fits around busy rosters, and every crew member earns a transferable certification they keep.

WHY IT MATTERS

• The first specialised alcohol responsibility training programme in the airline industry.
• High-street standards, backed by the UK Home Office, brought into the cabin.
• Delivered through LUZ, so it scales across a fleet and fits crew schedules.
• Crew equipped to reduce disruptive incidents, protecting passengers and themselves.

Talk to us about responsible service and crew training

Vienna Airport

The challenge

When quoted costs for Last Mile Services at Vienna Airport far exceeded the expectations of our airline customer, it became clear that the traditional supplier model wasn’t viable. The solution was to create a new catering unit ourselves – one that could deliver the required performance at a significantly lower cost.

Our approach

We secured a partnership with an existing catering facility at Vienna Airport, renting space that allowed us to operate independently within a shared environment. From there, we built a ground operation from the ground up – recruiting and training a team of six packers to cover daily operational requirements. To ensure the unit ran efficiently from day one, we applied Lean Six Sigma methodology, as well as the principles of 5S and the Eight Wastes. These guided improvements to packing times, staff scheduling, warehouse layout and stock control, helping us to eliminate inefficiencies and reduce waste at every stage of the process.

The outcome

By applying Lean principles, we successfully halved packing time and optimised use of both labour and physical space. The Vienna unit is now fully flexible to accommodate last-minute changes – whether that’s aircraft swaps, unscheduled flights or late crew requests – while maintaining full operational performance.

Most importantly, the solution delivered an estimated €350,000 annual saving for our customer – around 40% lower than the original provider quotes – with no compromise on quality or reliability.

The In-flight Retail Challenge

Inflight retail must deliver on three fronts:

• Passenger satisfaction.
• Operational efficiency.
• Commercial performance.

The airline in question was carrying a large, underperforming range with little clarity on what was working and what wasn’t. Our challenge was to streamline the range – without compromising customer choice or brand perception.

Our Approach: Category Management and SKU Discipline

We implemented a category management strategy, treating each category (food, drink, boutique, gifting) as a standalone business area. This allowed us to evaluate each SKU based on:

• Sales contribution.
• Passenger relevance.
• Margin performance.
• Operational practicality (e.g. load weight, handling time).

From there, we redesigned the onboard range to include only products with a clear role. This was supported by:

• Space planning to improve product placement and visibility.
• A revised promotional strategy focused on passenger need states.
• A full redesign of the inflight brochure to align messaging and layout.
• Ongoing range performance reviews to keep optimising over time.

“Identifying the range was too large and not satisfying passengers needs, we dramatically reduced the number of SKU’s and increased space available for products that were needed. This led to improved product availability , reducing sales service complexity for the cabin crew , driving sales onboard and customer satisfaction.“

Mark Evans – Head of Trading

The Outcome: Higher Sales, Lower Load

By reducing the range to just 44 SKUs – less than half the number typically carried by competitors – and cutting the total weight to 11kg, we created a leaner, smarter product offer that delivered results.

Key Results:

• Every SKU contributed meaningfully to revenue.
• Simpler restocking and faster service onboard.
• Reduced waste and improved load planning.

Why It Worked

This success came down to three things:

• Data-led decision making – letting the numbers, not opinions, shape the range.
• Passenger relevance – aligning products to real onboard needs.
• Operational simplicity – making the offer easy to deliver, track and restock.

Our approach proves that inflight retail doesn’t need endless choice to be profitable. It needs the right products, clearly positioned, with strong performance backing every decision

JetSMART

THE CONTEXT

The pandemic hit airlines across Latin America hard. JetSMART Argentina and Chile faced reduced aircraft utilisation, a limited flying programme and lower load factors, all of which put pressure on retail performance and cost. The pre-pandemic all-day barset loading model quickly became unsustainable as flights and passenger volumes fell. The goal was clear: cut cost across the onboard retail operation, keep a strong and engaging range, avoid out-of-stocks, and adapt quickly to changing schedules and consumption patterns.

WHAT WE DID

We started with a full audit of pre-pandemic product performance, reviewing multiple data sources to identify the most valuable SKUs. Working with our category management team, we trimmed the range to the most profitable and relevant products and removed underperforming or high-cost items. We redesigned the menu brochure to match, and introduced a more flexible approach to barset packing and loading, adjusting the layout without changing barset dimensions. That let us move from a daily loading model to a multi-day barset, informed by live consumption data and demand forecasting.

RESULTS

• 70% reduction in loading and packing costs.
• Strong SKU performance maintained across the reduced range.
• Minimal out-of-stocks despite fewer reloads.
• Improved crew efficiency and shorter restocking times.

“This gave us the flexibility we needed, without compromising passenger experience.”

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Volotea

THE CONTEXT

Altura manages Volotea’s inflight retail programme and set out to refresh the airline’s onboard technology with a more agile, integrated platform.

WHAT WE DID

We deployed a new retail and payment platform from MOST, with advanced point-of-sale software, integrated payment processing and custom smartphone-based hardware built for cabin crew. The platform is fully connected to Altura’s ERP, giving real-time visibility and seamless reconciliation across inventory, flight loading, onboard sales and payments. Merchant onboarding and activation were completed at record speed for a programme of this scale.

RESULTS

• A more agile, integrated retail and payment platform live for Volotea.
• Real-time visibility and reconciliation across inventory, loading, sales and payments.
• Better tools for the crew and greater operational control.
• Merchant onboarding completed at record speed for a programme of this scale. 

IN THEIR WORDS

“We were looking for a tech provider that could deliver fast implementation and seamless integration with our systems, and MOST delivered. This upgrade brings greater transparency, better tools for the crew, and the operational control we need to keep driving performance for Volotea.” — Caroline Ulbrich, CEO, Altura

“Altura leads with operational and retail excellence, and we are honoured they chose MOST to power this next chapter of their inflight programme for Volotea.” — Jan Blanchard, CEO, MOST

Talk to us about onboard retail technology

THE CONTEXT

A Latin American national flag carrier operating 124 aircraft across nine bases and five regulatory jurisdictions, spanning domestic, regional, US and transatlantic routes. It needed one accountable partner to run onboard retail across a complex, multi-country operation without handing away control of supplier choice.

WHAT WE DID

Altura took the Merchant of Record role and stood the programme up across five AOCs and five countries in three months. We hold the legal, financial and commercial position and integrate the providers around us. Nexus runs as the retail spine, LoadIQ plans and schedules loading to the bases, Circulo tracks barsets base to base, and we run strategy, ranging, supply chain, store operations and analytics on the airline’s behalf.

RESULTS

• A single accountable retail programme live across five countries and five AOCs in three months.
• Performance visible to SKU level across nine bases through Nexus.
• Loading and inventory matched to real aircraft rotations across the network.

Talk to us about running your programme as Merchant of Record

THE CONTEXT

JetSMART operates a fast-growing low-cost network across South America. It wanted to modernise how crews run onboard retail: less friction in the transaction, clearer visibility of what is selling, and a platform it could build on rather than replace. The starting point was two live markets, Chile and Peru, each with its own operation to bring across without disrupting day-to-day flying.

WHAT WE DID

Altura partnered with MOST to deploy the MOST retail platform across both markets. Altura led the airline retail and onboard operations side, MOST provided the cloud-enabled platform, and the two worked directly with JetSMART through preparation, training and operational readiness in each country. The platform went live supporting crews with mobile, connected point of sale and real-time operational data.

RESULTS

• A single modern retail platform live across JetSMART Chile and Peru.
• Crews equipped with faster, more connected onboard sales and service.
• Real-time visibility of sales and inventory across both operations
• A scalable base for future digital services and ancillary revenue.

Talk to us about onboard retail technology