Air Rage

As the growth in air travel continues, the airlines and to a lesser degree, airports are dealing with a rise in both air rage and passengers launching broadsides at airport staff.

Air rage itself is nothing new. The phenomenon has been around since as far back as the late 1960’s, when air travel first became available to “the masses”.

Since then up until today, occurrences of in flight woes are nothing new, but increasingly, the industry has witnessed an ever-widening chasm between the flight attendants and passengers.

While airlines have made massive strides in promoting first and business class products, offering more space, comfort and privacy – the emergence of the “economy plus” has helped to alleviate some passenger grievances in relation to a lack of space, albeit at an affordable price. The thorn in the crown of such investment lies within economy class cabins throughout various airplanes and operators.

Image courtesy of The Seattle Times

Airlines chasing high yield fares have done so at the expense of “those at the back end” of an airplane. It’s a fact that we as passengers come in different shapes and sizes – the mantra of “one size fits all” is limited strictly now to compliance with evacuation and regulatory requirements.

Unsurprisingly, one only need to scour the web to see that instances of air rage are often very rare in first and business class yet more prevalent in economy class.

This isn’t about semantics and which class of passenger causes more air range than another – air rage is air rage and the repercussions affect fellow travellers, airline staff and the industry as a whole.

From my own extensive travelling experience, I have noticed four key stages of passenger frustration and agitation.

First is the “rush” to get through the check-in and security areas on arrival at any airport.

Secondly, the “twitchy feet” in the airside lounge waiting to anxiously to board the airplane.

Thirdly, once on board and in flight, the hurry about wanting to get to one’s destination – on a long haul flight, there’s only so much in flight entertainment one can view before being bored senseless – particularly if you don’t have a window seat either.

Finally, the “rush” to get off the airplane upon landing, grabbing ones luggage and getting out of the airport for the final part of the journey to wherever you’re headed.

At each stage, the risk of confrontation varies but rarely diminishes.

Airline and airport staff often have to intervene in instances where passengers cause disturbances amongst themselves, or indeed, with the staff too. The premise that customer service staff are to continuously smile in the face of upset and angry passengers today no longer holds true – there are, albeit infrequent, occasions where airline/airport staff are the reason for passengers getting irritated.

Let’s be fair and distinguish between the responsibilities of the cabin crew and passenger.

Image courtesy of Emirates

It’s a given that “one-on-one” style services are largely restricted to premium paying passengers. In economy class, there are usually a half dozen or more flight attendants on hand to cater for anywhere up to 400 or more passengers – although this will be more common on larger airplanes such as the Airbus A380 and Boeing 747. (In Emirates case, some of their 777-300ER’s are configured with 442 seats).

It’s a harsh reality that there will be a variety of different people who we end up flying with. Some are regular fliers, some are nervous first time passengers, others with small children. Seldom do we have the ability to pick and choose who we sit next to when we travel alone, therefore attempting to monopolise a member of the cabin crews time means that s/he has less time to attend to the other people flying too.

Sometimes cabin crew do get things wrong – but lets face it, they’re human too.

The highly publicised and recent event on a Southwest Airlines flight where a woman was asked to “cover up” due to her skimpy attire is just one example of where playing the “passenger prejudice” card was evidently wrong. We’re all entitled to dress how we want – there’s no law against that – equally, there is no airline law stipulating that passengers need to conform to any specified dress code.

Whatever the semantics are in relation to the Southwest case, the cabin crew member who voiced displeasure at the clothing was wrong to do so.

Another cause of air rage that gets less coverage is cabin environment itself.

Most conventional airplanes are high in toxic chemicals and allergens and low in air pressure and oxygen. While cabin air filtration systems have moved leaps and bounds, most airplanes are pressurised at around an equivalent altitude of 8,000ft.

Most of the cabin air today is recycled and not fresh.

Dr. Vincent Mark, M.D., an environmental physician states that “curtailment of fresh air in airplanes can be causing deficient oxygen in the brains of passengers, and this often makes people act belligerent, even crazy.”

Boeing’s new 787 Dreamliner is tackling the issue of the cabin atmosphere.

Image courtesy of Boeing

In a survey conducted in 2004, Boeing found that lower cabin pressure of the Dreamliner directly contributed to passengers feeling more relaxed and less fatigued.

“Study participants reported feeling less achy, more relaxed and more comfortable with the 6,000-foot cabin pressurization.

The participants experienced a 20-hour flight regime in an airplane-cabin simulator.

The simulator was pressurized to five different altitude equivalents, and each level was tested nine times. Participants sat in standard economy-class seats, ate typical airline food, watched movies and slept as they would during a real flight.”

Making the cabin aesthetically pleasing is one added bonus, however, the milieu itself has a great deal of impact on those passengers on long haul flights. With the advent of ultra long haul airplanes, the symptoms of passenger fatigue and restlessness is likely to further constitute a psychological drain and affect moods and reactions to events and activities during a flight.

Alcohol is also a contributory factor. At high altitude in flight, the human body becomes much more susceptible to dehydration. Exhaustion and petulance are just two effects of dehydration. As alcohol can lead to a loss of self-consciousness and coupled with a lack of fluid, anger and frustration arise from being irritable.

From crying babies to restless children, narrow aisles and cabin movement all play a significant role in determining ones disposition.

One pet hate that economy passengers routinely experience is the seat in front of them.

Image courtesy of ABC.com

Depending on how (in)considerate the passenger in front is, seat backs are often reclined fully without a second thought for who is behind, much less if they have a beverage or meal on the seat tray.

Equally, I’m confident that we have at one time or another, seen passengers completely ignore cabin crew requests to put seats upright prior to landing too.

Airlines too are to blame for the rise in air rage. The “bums on seat” policy seen over the last two decades has come at a very high price. It’s all well and dandy that large airplane makers such as Airbus and Boeing develop high tech widebody jets, but the cabin fittings, seating plans and arrangements are solely down to the airline customers themselves.

Interestingly, this NY Post article states that the FAA has recorded 1,750 air rage incidents since 2000 – although Andrew Thomas, editor of The Journal of Transportation Security suggests the annual figure could be as high as 10,000.

On long haul flights, cramped seating can make for an uncomfortable journey and form the basis of anger being directed at flight attendants as a result of what customers perceive as “not getting their monies worth”.

This can vary from the IFE to the meal choices (or lack thereof) and occasionally the seat in which one is sat.

Me, I’m a window person – even before the advent of being able to select a seat during online check-in, I think I’ve only ever had the unfortunate seat in the aisle or centre section three times.

Every member of the travelling public has their own preference about seating, regardless of class of travel. As trivial as it sounds, this too is amongst the most common reasons for air rage to occur – although it could also be based as “ground rage” if it starts at the check-in desk!

It’s not uncommon for air rage incidents that lead to flights being diverted. Such unscheduled stopovers can amount to untold sums of money and time being wasted – much at the risk of further infuriating already inconvenienced passengers.

That said, one could equally argue that there are passengers who are so oblivious to airport announcements prior to boarding, flights are routinely held up at the gate by that one person who can’t be bothered to be in the boarding area on time – only then to find s/he may have been offloaded, the flight closed and their baggage removed too.

So what can be done to alleviate, if not outright cure these issues?

As noted, Boeing has already got the ball rolling with a much more ambient cabin climate for the 787 Dreamliner. Both IATA and ICAO have a collective responsibility to ensure that airlines facilitate and comply with laws governing cabin movements while in flight and on the ground, while the likes of the FAA and EASA check and advocate new cabin air systems be developed to be more in tune with the needs of the public.

There have been advocates of installing camera’s in airplane cabins to monitor instances where air rage occurs. One only need to look to see that air rage is not strictly limited to passengers having a complaint.

This suggestion was also highly discussed in the aftermath of 9-11 too.

In this clip, highly publicised on the internet, the passenger aboard this Air Canada flight believes someone wants to shoot him and expels all manner of profanities with complete disregard for any minors that may be in close proximity.

While the above clip is distressing, airlines are often well equipped to restrain passengers who pose a threat to the safety to others – and in light on the cramped quarters within which they work, flight attendants are usually stuck between a rock a hard place and should be commended for their bravery. That applies equally to those passengers who assist cabin staff on the spur of the moment, not knowing what harm they could endure if something more serious happened.

It’s not often passengers who suffer from panic attacks board the same flight, but its cold fact of life that all passengers are different, some require medication, others do not – some are in control of themselves, others aren’t so capable.

Thanks to the media and internet, we’re able to scour at ease and find some of the most outrageous acts of air rage that some of us will be fortunate enough never to see or put up with.

Image courtesy of Nokia

Mobile phones are the latest technology tool that falls under scrutiny for possible annoyances in the skies.

In this piece from The Telegraph, the majority of respondents stated that they would want to keep mobiles switched firmly off. See more on this by clicking here.

In the United States, a huge safety uproar from the public has thus far proved powerful enough to ensure that phones in the sky will still be a distant hope.

From the prior link, one UK parliamentarian voices concerns on safety too.

Mr Scott, MP for Ilford North, plans to introduce a motion against mobile phones on planes in Parliament. He said his main worry was the potential threat to security.

“The Madrid train bombs in 2004 were set off by mobile phones. What will be the security implications of everyone having mobiles switched on at 30,000ft? It can only put even greater pressure on airport security staff,” he said.

Airbus’ offshoot company OnAir is the latest to assist the likes of Air France to undergo trials aboard an Airbus A318.

Last year, OnAir conducted a survey which claimed that most business travellers (allegedly 94% of them) would like to take calls and check emails during flights.

In contrast, an independent YouGov poll suggested 56% of the 380 people questioned were firmly against using mobile phones in flight.

Clearly then, further research and on a much wider scale needs to be undertaken to get a better “feel” for allowing usage on airplanes.

I’m sure we’ve all come across that one person who receives a phone and loudly decides to declare to all and sundry that s/he is on a bus, train, restaurant, cinema or any other public place – much to the annoyance of those around him/her. I’d be very surprised to find that the majority us wouldn’t have any inhibitions about getting up to give such a person a smack in the mouth for their inconsiderate public phone call declaration.

Signage exists for a reason, and if it asks that your mobile is switched off, then really there’s very little ground for a said person to be answering it. No wonder then, other people are likely to vent their annoyance vocally – a perfect recipe for air rage and possible violent confrontation. It’s no different from obeying the seatbelt warning signs during turbulence – there’s no “opt-out” clause, and we’re all subject to regulatory compliance.

Image courtesy of gcman105

While trials in the air will certainly assist in getting a far better insight into the travelling publics actions/reactions to mobiles in flight, the reality is that airlines are going to invariably find themselves at the centre of more cabin confrontations and spend more time “policing” than being stewards/stewardesses.

You can take part in a vote here on whether you would like mobile phones to be allowed on airplanes.

All it takes is a few instances of attacks on cabin crew to push them down the road of demanding more pay and additional on board security – how far will the airlines cater for those needs?

Part of the answer and cure lies within us all as people who fly. If we start to get that right, the rest is a breeze - and an enjoyable plane ride too.

Below are just a few examples of what can and does happen in the skies. There’s some more here too.

• United Airlines fined an investment banker $50,000 after he firstly assaulted a flight attendant and then proceeded to defecate on a first-class food trolley during a flight from Buenos Aires to New York.

• Mr. Okada had allegedly urinated on the seats then punched another passenger who told him to stop.

• Passenger Mr. Guzman-Hernandez removed his pants and then “simulated having sex with the back of his own seat.”

• Fiona Weir, 32, is said to have had a vodka bottle smashed over her head in November at the end of an Airtours International flight bound for Malaga, Spain.

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On a personal level, I would like to take this opportunity to wish all readers a very Merry Christmas & a Happy New Year!

8 comments December 24th, 2007