We describe ourselves as "stressed" more than ever, a few of us feel trolley rage in the supermarket, and even people who've apparently had a good holiday can fly into a purple rage at an altitude of 30,000 feet.

We seem to lose our self-control in an increasingly public way, resulting in random acts of violence against strangers who are innocently going about their business but may haplessly bump into us.

Just this week, two drunken women passengers went on the rampage, forcing their flight from the Greek island of Kos to Manchester to be diverted to Frankfurt.

The two women had to be wrestled to the floor by cabin crew and bound with plastic handcuffs before they could be bundled off the plane.

After two hours' questioning at Frankfurt Airport, the two women from Merseyside were allowed to return to the UK, and they could now face charges of grievous bodily harm and violating air traffic regulations.

The airline, XL Airways, says it is considering taking its own legal action if the women are not charged by police. The diversion is said to have cost £16,000 in extra fuel.

The women began yelling and causing mayhem after one was caught smoking in the toilet. A bottle of vodka was reportedly taken from a trolley and allegedly brandished at a staff member, while the pair shouted obscenities.

There have been any number of high-profile personalities involved in air rage incidents – model Naomi Campbell, singer Courtney Love, Peter Buck of the band REM and Oasis singer Liam Gallagher among them.

But an air-rage perpetrator is just as likely to be some ordinary punter who may, for example, take an irrational and violent view of being asked to stick to simple rules, such as staying in their seat with seatbelts fastened during turbulence.

Previous air rage episodes have figured assaults on cabin crew and damage to the fabric of aircraft. Staff, whose main job is to ensure the safety of the plane and passengers while travelling from A to B, have increasingly found themselves dealing with stroppy, sometimes violent and occasionally extremely drunken passengers who seem hell-bent on endangering themselves and others.

The number of air rage incidents on British airlines increased hugely in 2006-7, with 2,219 episodes compared with 1,359 in the previous year. That number had more than tripled in three years, although the incidence of physical violence had dropped slightly, from 58 attacks to 56.

More than 40 passengers had to be restrained physically, 14 planes had to be diverted, and in 19 reported cases take-off had to be stopped.

Arguments over seat allocation, rows among couples and not being allowed to smoke were among contributing factors. Alcohol is also a common thread between a significant number of incidents.

While only a tiny fraction of the millions who travel by air each year cause trouble, the fear of air rage and the bad image it gives to air travel, particularly at busy times of year, must be a cause of anxiety both to airlines and to passengers, who look around airports and observe how many pints or shorts some travellers are downing prior to departure, no matter what the time of day.

Airlines say the majority of air-rage cases do not involve alcohol, but we know that some definitely do. So why not control what can be controlled?

Both airports and airlines make big money from the bar sales, although airline cabin crew have the power to refuse boarding to anyone who appears to be drunk. However, some passengers are incredibly good at appearing reasonably sober – until someone riles them onboard.

Staff can refuse to sell further alcohol to anyone who looks the worse for wear, but then they may well feel the thick end of the air-rage abuse that could be avoided if drink simply wasn't sold in the cabin.

And while we're about it, why not insist that all alcohol bought
in duty-free shops is put in padded, labelled bags and stowed in the hold? We should make all aircraft cabins alcohol-free zones.

These will not be popular suggestions among the airline companies that charge through the nose for miniatures of gin and brandy, I'm sure. But they'd probably find support among many passengers.