New survey data released by the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA) concretely displayed the steep rise in unruly passengers on commercial airlines during the first half of 2021.
The survey asked nearly 5,000 flight attendants across 30 airlines nationwide a series of questions about their experience with customers as flights have returned to a relatively normal schedule this year.
Perhaps the most stunning result was that 17% of respondents said they experienced a physical altercation, nearly one in every five flight attendants. Overall, 85% said they dealt with unruly passengers this year with 58% responding that they’ve experienced at least five incidents.
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The union, which represents over 50,000 flight attendants at 17 airlines, said the measures currently in place failed to address these significant problems. Seventy-one percent of attendants who reported incidents to "airline management received no follow-up and a majority did not observe efforts to address the rise in unruly passengers by their employers," the organization said in its press release.
"This survey confirms what we all know, the vitriol, verbal and physical abuse from a small group of passengers is completely out of control, and is putting other passengers and flight crew at risk. This is not just about masks as some have attempted to claim. There is a lot more going on here and the solutions require a series of actions in coordination across aviation," Sara Nelson, President of AFA-CWA, said in a statement.
Survey respondents said a variety of factors caused the unruliness including mask compliance, alcohol, routine safety reminders, flight delays and cancellations.
The verbal threats involved yelling and swearing in response to masking directions, and often aggressively challenging flight crew. Sixty-one percent of respondents reported that disruptive passengers used racist, sexist and/or homophobic slurs during incidents.
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Physical altercations included but were not limited to shoving, kicking seats, and throwing trash at flight crew. Law enforcement had to be called in many of both the verbal and physical incidents.
Nelson said she would share the findings with the Federal Aviation Association and call on them to make their zero tolerance policy permanent, which they instituted last year. She also called on the Department of Justice to implement a series of actions "to keep problems on the ground and respond effectively in the event of incidents."
"This is not a 'new normal' we are willing to accept," Nelson added.
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