(Allen J. Schaben / Los Angeles Times via Getty Images)
The temperature of the country has been steadily rising. It’s not the environment, but rather the people. Over the last nearly two years, we’ve endured unrelenting stress, anxiety, uncertainty and fear.
Stuck at home for most of this time, people have been spending too much time on social media and watching partisan cable news getting enraged. Psychologists and health professionals point out that mental health, burnout, depression, fatigue and rage are some of the reactions to the trauma we’ve lived through. One study showed that more Americans started describing themselves as “angry” and “frustrated” as the pandemic lingered on. The pent-up rage, fear and frustration sometimes leads to violence.
After boarding a flight to New York’s LaGuardia Airport, Arielle Jean Jackson got into a heated verbal altercation with a Southwest employee. According to Bloomberg, she was asked to leave. While departing, the confrontation turned physical, and Jackson hit an airline agent. The employee was brought to a hospital after being punched in the head.
This sort of aggressive behavior has become all too common on airlines. The Federal Aviation Administration found about 5,100 cases as of November 9, and filed 239 enforcement cases. The FAA reported that it issued more than $1 million in fines against rambunctious airline passengers in 2021.
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The Association of Flight Attendants conducted a survey that found “over 85% of all respondents had dealt with unruly passengers as air travel picked up in the first half of 2021.” The report further indicated,“More than half (58%) had experienced at least five incidents this year.” This represents a “shocking 17% reported experiencing a physical incident.”
Sara Nelson, president of AFA-CWA, said about the findings, “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.” Nelson added. “It is time to make the FAA ‘zero tolerance’ policy permanent, the Department of Justice to utilize existing statute to conduct criminal prosecution, and implement a series of actions proposed by our union to keep problems on the ground and respond effectively in the event of incidents.”
According to reports from flight attendants, requiring mask compliance, coupled with serving alcohol, plus routine safety reminders, flight delays and cancellations created a toxic environment and set the stage for bad behavior and volatility.
Most of us have watched many online videos of “Kevins” and “Karens” engaging in inappropriate actions, such as foul-mouthed cursing, shoving, drunken antics, kicking seats, barking orders at attendants and getting into screaming matches.
Some airlines are taking action by alerting authorities and prohibiting alcohol and taking a hard line on rowdy and abusive passengers. Airline executives should have acted sooner. After the first few viral videos revealed the untenable situation for both the workers and polite passengers, executives should have stood up for their staff and enact changes.
The first obvious step would be to outline the policies before boarding, ensuring that passengers acknowledge that they will be required to wear a mask and abide by the clearly stated rules, similar to the instructions given in case a disaster happens. There is no excuse for not adequately training the crew as to how to effectively deal with unruly passengers. To supplement the staff, the airlines should hire former law enforcement professionals, security or bouncer-type personnel, who are accustomed to volatile people and know how to deescalate potential dangerous scenarios.
In this tight job market, the best workers will quit, as they’re afraid for their safety. The shortage of workers will then exacerbate the situation, as there won’t be enough staff to properly take care of its customers. The adverse public relations fallout from all of the high-profile issues taking place on planes will cause potential employees to choose other lines of work.
If the leadership fails to take action, potential passengers won’t patronize airlines that have a reputation for allowing or ignoring toxic in-flight altercations. They’ll switch to better-run and appropriately managed airlines.
The outcome will be that both workers and passengers will go elsewhere, ruining the reputation and business of the airlines that haven’t taken proactive measures to ensure the safety of their workers and customers.
