If you're talking about an open container of alcohol, I don't think its a misdemeanor. It's more in the order of like jaywalikng or soemthing. In NYC a lot of people used to get summonses for this and the usual deal was to appear in court for a $10 fine. Happens all the time. It's weird cause they don't assign a fine on the ticket that you can mail in. You have to waste a day going down to the court building and go in front of an old old judge who basically will just have you pay a very small fine. I don't think this could really ever be accounted for at some airline interview.
Years ago it was prevelant, people drinking beer in the street, brown-bagging it. One way to get around this (if you must), is to remove the label of the beer bottle (out of luck if ts a can). The ticket MUST indicate what brand of alcohol it was in order for them to issue the summons. Nowadays with the QOL crime crackdown, you see less of it.