air rage

I’ve only come across a few cases of genuine air rage. On each occassion we as crew have been able to defuse the situation and all ended ok. I agree with Mongu, how the situattion is dealt with at the time is crucial. You can’t go in all guns blazing and expect nothing to happen. Tact and empathy normally works for me.

What I think we as crew have to appreciate is that we have no idea how the pax is feeling and what has happened to them prior to boarding our aircraft. They might have emotional problems for example. No two pax are the same. Things that might seem trivial to one person are huge to another and before you know it you have an incident that gets out of control.

I think too much alchohol can be a cause for some but I have seen pax stay up all night on a 12 hour flight, drinking constantly then leave the aircraft as though they’d slept the whole flight! Others, one G and T and they start shouting around the cabin. You just can’t tell. There’s a very fine line when it comes to refusing to serve a pax alchohol.

In answer to an earlier question, yes we do have restraing equipment onboard but it is only to be used as a very last resort and only with the Captains permission. In 15 years of flying I have never had to use it.

Fly safe

just to point out here as barstaff i have actually been warned against serving drunk customers, for the simple fact I can get prosicuted if they go and fll over, bang there head and die as a result – what a joke!!!

Of course, people have responsibility for their own actions. But that does not mean you shouldn’t make an effort to defuse situations.

A landlord/lady will be financially penalised for serving customers who are already intoxicated. That’s why they generally don’t do it (though I’m sure we’ve all bought another round when already sloshed!)

Fair enough, but I think the licensee is more concerned about a big, fat wallet rather than serving thosed who are totally p*ssed.

After all, it shouldn’t be pub landlords or landladys or cabin crew having to look for the signs, we should be capable of deciding for ourselves whether or not we need more alcohol.

Oh, OK. But surely airlines would publicise these cases, for their deterrent value?

Also, T5:

You have to bear in mind that in a bar/pub, the licensee will get into big trouble with the police for serving somebody who is already intoxicated. I’ve witnessed countless cases where cabin crew simply serve, irrespective of the fact that a passenger has had too much. So airlines themselves need to take a long hard look at what their staff do. It’s amazing really, if you are even slightly drunk on the ground they sometimes won’t let you fly. But once airborne, they wil just serve and serve and serve…

I just think that airlines ought to be more proactive. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not blaming them – it is the passenger who is being disruptive and the fault is entirely theirs. But by the same token, a few easy and cheap measures could make life easier for everyone:

1. DO NOT serve passengers who are already intoxicated!

2. Serve more water. Some airlines these days just give you a bottle of Evian or something in your seatpocket when you board. A great idea.

3. Serve nicorette patches onboard (or sell them).

4. Have a snack trolley inbetween meals to give people something to do with their mouths.

4. Basically, try to defuse the situation as much as you can reasonably do so.

In response to Mongu, There are probably more court cases than you hear about in the papers. Also airlines generally refuse travel to a pax who has been disruptive on an O/B flight.

It’s either that or alcohol abuse

I keep to my belief that air rage is caused by smokers who cant handle the length of time they cant have a cig

NO!!!

Do you include nail clippers as a weapon? :p

The pax can also jump in to help, I surely would. Flight attendants are trained to be able to detain unruly passengers; 2 or 3 of them can do the job. I’m sure drunk and belligerant passengers are not weilding a gun, or anything. Ones that have a weapon (god forbid) have a different agenda, and are surely not drunk!

Not necessarily. Once airborne, there is no real security for those on board. Somebody wishing to act so stupidly and cause air rage, possibly endangering lives can do so, knowing that there is nobody who can put a stop to it – at least not until the aircraft finds somewhere suitable to touch down.

If there is violence in a pub, the police (for example) can be called and can sort the problem. The others in the pub (the equivalent of passengers) can easily leave and get on with life. Those on board a plane must endure minutes or hours of terror until the problem passenger is restrained… somehow.

There is no doubt that alcohol dramatically influences someones behaviour. However, that in no way gives a drunk person the right to get belligerant. In my opinion, a drunk person gone balllistic on a airplane is in no way a different circumstance than a drunk person gone ballistic in the local bar or pub. If you’re going to ban alcohol on flights in order to ensue no one gets out of hand up there, they should ban alcohol in every public venue to ensue no one gets out of hand, period. In both cases, very extreme, and neither should EVER be considered.

Hmm… I think differently. Alcohol can dramatically influence someone’s behaviour – with them becoming agressive when they are totally “out of it”.

However, don’t airlines have restraining equipment which they can use in exceptional circumstances?

100% agree. Unfortunately the airlines tend not to deal with those bad passengers! Exactly how many court cases have there been….?

On the other hand, they do tend to overreact to a lot of innocuous things – like the famous Scottish diversion to Cardiff.

I refuse to blame alcohol or cigarettes (or lack thereof) on Air rage. People who engage in that are just morons who are unproductive members of society, and should be dealt with accordingly.

RE: air rage

Most airlines have banned smoking on aircraft so why can’t they ban drinking?or maybe limit each passenger to two alcholic drinks.If you live in the uk then there is a program on monday 8- 30 pm on bbc 1 about air rage and other things that affect us passsenger while flighing.
regards saab 2000

RE: air rage

Hmm..
Sure, alcohol is a major annoyance and so is hooligans. I was on a flight from Seoul to Sydney, onboard a KA 777) where a passenger had been over-drinking (and according to a friend of mine, who was sitting behind him, he had also been taking pills). That, of course, had a VERY bad effect, as he suddently started yelling “But the Japanese are killing whales!!” Eventually he started running from the middle of the plane toward the back (where I was seated on the last row) while being chased by the FO (I think). He was, eventually, caught and finally placed in handcuffs (the plastic ones, ye’know?) in the rear pantry. He was seated there for the remaining 5-6 hours of the flight. Under his seat they found a bag of pills, and 2 empty bottles of Whiskey (I think it was).

Now, some 2 or 3 hours into the flight we ran into some HEAVY turbulence, and since it has been mentioned earlier the passenges who are uncomfortable on planes have a higher tendence to drink, it might have been the reason as to why he started drinking. As for the pills, well, that’s not my call.

RE: air rage

Unfortunately i don’t work for an airine as i am to young,although at the weekend in the summer i work at aurigny at guernsey airport.At the moment i am taking flying lessons and hope to take my PPL soon.
regards saab 2000

RE: air rage

No problem, do you work for an airline?