Drunken Tinder dates, hot tub flings

It’s wheels down, rings off — and bottoms up.

Welcome to the wild world of pilots’ and air crews’ parties that turn layovers into Tinder-fueled bacchanals.

The spotlight was cast on the untamed scene by the revelation that married British Airways pilot snorted cocaine off a topless woman’s breasts hours before a London-bound flight then turned up to fly the plane.

“I’ve been a very naughty boy,” he texted a colleague.

And while he might be an outlier, say cabin crew, there’s no doubt that he’s not alone.

“I’ve seen a pilot puking at dinner on a layover from drinking so much,” one flight attendant for Alaska Airlines said.

“He must have had some in his hotel room, so he was on another level when he got to dinner. The captain after dinner walked him back to his room and he probably slept for 15 hours.”

It seemed to help: he didn’t reek of booze at the gate, the flight attendant of 15 years recalled.

“He showed up to the airplane dressed professionally and was not hungover in my opinion,” the attendant said.

“Was I nervous at all? No. Did he break any rules? Not one,” she said. “Did he stop drinking prior to 10 hour rule? Absolutely.”

Marika Mikusova, who chronicled her five years in the skies in 2022’s “Diary of a Flight Attendant,” never crossed paths with drunken colleagues, but recalled the “comical” scenario of seeing pilots with wedding bands during pre-flight briefings.

“As soon as we landed and gathered at the airport to pick up our suitcases, the ring mysteriously disappeared from his ring finger,” Mikusova, 34, of the Czech Republic, told The Post.

“Such things happened from time to time. Pilots are considered ‘hot stuff’ among (not only) single cabin crew, so it was no surprise when a colleague of mine overshared details about a Jacuzzi the captain had in his room and how she enjoyed her layover there.”

Another flight attendant for a major American airline, meanwhile, said adultery plagues the industry, driven largely by “super charismatic” womanizing pilots who emulate Hollywood stars.

“I don’t know if they saw ‘Catch Me If You Can’ or something and decided to try to become Leonardo DiCaprio,” she said.

“I had a friend who had a different Tinder date in every city we went to. He tells the ladies it’s a casual thing, so I feel like that’s his business.”

The industry vet who runs a podcast, Flight Attendant Confessional, where she shares tales culled from more than 5 million miles on a major US carrier told The Post: “There are a lot of cheaters in the airline industry. Pilots and flight attendants.

“A friend of mine was dating a guy who had two lives. His girlfriend, and his family with kids. She had no idea.

“He lived with his wife and kids in one city and was based in another city. Being gone an extra night every now and then wouldn’t go noticed in this job.

“Even one of the guys I really admired cheated on a friend of mine. I would be so nervous to date within the industry. But some of the pilots are genuinely good people.”

A former flight attendant from Los Angeles said, “Just like any industry, just because you can pass a background check doesn’t mean you are a good person and follow the rules.

“There are individuals that suffer with addiction problems and the union has resources to help.”

Most flight attendants “tend to drink a lot” after their shifts, especially the “stressful ones,” another told The Post.

Some pilots “bid for layovers to go out and drink and party,” according to the Alaska Airlines employee.

“We get together as a crew and after a long day of serving customers and on our feet, everyone wants to unwind and go have a drink and a fun meal together,” she said.

“Some bid for funner layovers with lots of bars and restaurants and they go out every single layover and find a fun bar.

“I genuinely think it’s no different than being in a fun city at home and going out with your girlfriends. We just happen to be in a random city we’ve never been to, so it’s more fun to explore as a crew.”

Random drug and alcohol screenings largely dissuade pilots and flight attendants from unbridled revelry while on the road, but the majority of flight crew drink while off the job, she claims.

Those off-hour outings with overworked colleagues can get a little crazy, one flight attendant confessed.

“I have seen a lot of drinking,” the attendant for a major US-based carrier told The Post. “Sometimes partying by the pool, going out to bars and stuff. But as long as you have long enough before your flight, that is allowed. Alcoholism is a problem in the airline industry.”

Hotel bars becoming the norm for many, she said — or there are planes loaded with temptation in the form of drinks for passengers or duty-free sales.

“There is also a lot of access to free alcohol if people are willing to risk their job to take alcohol off of the plane,” she said.

“The airlines know it’s a problem.”

Messages seeking comment from major international carriers, including Alaska Airlines, were not returned.

But other flight attendants contacted by The Post insisted Mike Beaton – British Airways’ former pilot who was arrested when he turned up to fly still allegedly drunk and high – is a departure from other captains rather than the trade standard.

Kamila Jakubjakova, a former Emirates flight attendant, now enjoys a slower lifestyle in Halifax, Nova Scotia, where she runs a travel blog, Expat in Canada. The Slovakia native said it wasn’t uncommon for captains to hook up with crew.

“This would be in off-time or during a layover, not on the job, of course,” she said, but added, “The idea of pilots seems to be over-romanticized a bit.

“The reality is that many pilots are much older than the crew, married and not that attractive.”