Skift Take
Flight attendants feeling the impact of rowdy travelers are not feeling secured. If airline companies don’t want to lose these important workers, lose revenue and potentially set travel’s recovery back with canceled flights, more should be done by the federal government to ensure their safety.
Ruthy Muñoz
One in five flight attendants so far this year has actually been associated with physical altercations with rowdy passengers and 85 percent of cabin team members have actually dealt with disruptive travelers this year as more are going back to take a trip, a study released by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA (AFA) revealed on Thursday.
The online study of 5,000 flight attendants across 30 airlines discovered over half have experienced at least five events with unruly passengers, with flight attendants reporting events of swearing, shouting, aggressive behaviors, racial and homophobic slurs, and physical attacks. Reluctant to accept this new typical, the AFA is contacting the Federal Aviation Administration and the U.S. Department of Justice to make the ‘zero tolerance’ policy permanent.
“This study confirms what we all know, the vitriol, verbal and physical abuse from a small group of guests is entirely out of control, and is putting other travelers and flight crew at risk. This is not just about masks as some have actually attempted to claim. There is a lot more going on here and the services need a series of actions in coordination throughout aviation,” said Sara Nelson, President of AFA-CWA.
In reaction to the rise of disruptive passengers, the Federal Air Travel Administration in January enacted brand-new security procedures for airlines by providing a short-lived “zero tolerance” policy, making bad behavior an enforceable federal offense and extending it at the end of March.
But union authorities representing 50,000 flight attendants throughout 17 airlines, feel it’s not enough. The AFA said existing steps in location are failing to attend to the problem and wants the FAA and DOJ to protect passengers and team from verbally, physically abusive, and disruptive tourists.
One survey respondent reported being on the ground at the back of the airplane without the other team members noticing till after the enemy had deplaned.
“We tell them (travelers) that it is a federal offense to not adhere to crew member instructions, use foul and/or threatening language onboard, and then the plane is satisfied by airline company managers or airport police and the guest gets a slap on the wrist and sent out on their method,” composed one flight attendant in the survey.
The flight attendant who said she’s been threatened, screamed, and cursed at countless times in the last year and has only seen at many a short-term suspension of travel for the guest.
“We require genuine effects if flight attendants are ever going to feel safe at work again,” the unnamed flight attendant said.
For airline frontline employees, the relentless rise of bad habits inflight is taking a toll with lots of flight attendants feeling unheard and unprotected.
Survey data found 71 percent of flight attendants who submitted occurrence reports with their management didn’t get a follow-up and a bulk didn’t observe efforts by the airline companies to resolve concerns with rowdy passengers.
“It is time to make the FAA ‘no tolerance’ policy permanent, the Department of Justice to use existing statute to conduct criminal prosecution, and implement a series of actions proposed by our union to keep problems on the ground and react effectively in the event of incidents,” Nelson said.
Flight attendants mention several aspects adding to disruptive occurrences and indicate mask compliance, flight hold-ups, regular safety pointers, alcohol, and cancelations as typical factors when dealing with rowdy guests, an AFA representative stated.
To date, the FAA has received 3,615 unruly guest problems, more than half of them mask-related incidents. The company has initiated 610 examinations and 95 enforcement cases, stated the FAA’s site.
Furthermore, numerous flight attendants reported facing substantial spoken abuse from visibly intoxicated passengers, going through yelling and swearing for federal mask required instructions. Survey respondents likewise reported being aggressively challenged by unruly passengers in other ways consisting of kicking seats, pushing, being thrown whip at and passengers defiling a toilet in defiance of instructions, it said.
The FAA has actually been implementing some cases and providing historic fines for unruly travelers.
AFA stated its union has actually battled discrimination and bias for decades, and won’t allow this moment to set it back.
“Aviation is about bringing people together, not tearing us apart,” it said.
Airlines signed up with unions asking the U.S. Attorney General to prosecute unruly travelers in June.