“Not sure where I’m wrong. Passenger showed up to the gate already drunk.”
We can start here:
“Airlines are currently not serving alcohol in the cabin,”
Granted that many airlines are in the process of re-instating alcohol service at this time. However, the article indicates that the actual incident occurred in April 2021, when airlines were decidedly not serving alcohol, particularly Southwest which is the airline the perp had a ticket for.
I will admit to being slightly out of date. As of a few months ago, the last time I flew anywhere, airlines were not serving alcohol.