PositiveSpace.com's informative e-mail newsletter for
travel agents reported the other day that Japanese airlines have
started notifying passengers that anyone who refuses to follow
orders from a crew member or threatens others will be "restrained."
According to the report, the policy already has resulted in one
passenger "being held in his seat with adhesive tape after he
refused to stop pushing passengers and crew members."
The Japanese carriers including JAL and All Nippon Airways say
the number of problems with rowdy passengers more than doubled last
year to 330 reported incidents.
Airwise.com
reported a while back that British authorities had arrested almost
200 air passengers flying into London airports last year, charging
them with "disruptive behavior."
The report from the U.K. said the number of arrests was a huge
increase and "indicates a serious rise in aggressive and drunken
behavior on aircraft."
The flight attendants and other transportation employes are
organizing to deal with this growing problem. The International
Transport Workers Federation is planning a campaign at major
international airports the week of July 31 to call attention to
"air rage."
The union says it is concerned "not only with violence on board
aircraft against passengers but against check-in staff and other
passenger service staff."
Flight attendant groups also are stepping up their efforts to
deal with in-flight passenger disruptions.
A site worth looking at is flightattendants.org with a section about "sky
rage," featuring a powerful photo of two children and the
headline "Mommy is a flight attendant, not a punching bag."
Much more needs to be done to reverse the frightening trend of
rowdyism among air passengers. The safety of passengers and airline
employees is at stake.
The airlines might want to start by considering whether the
service of alcohol on flights should be significantly reduced.
It certainly wouldn't hurt to reevaluate the role that drinking
is playing in these incidents.
Further, law enforcement agencies need the authority to ensure
that passengers who have caused serious disturbances on flights are
taken into custody and prosecuted once the flights land.