There is now real evidence that such frustration, often fuelled by too much alcohol and too little nicotine, is leading to an escalation in violent, unruly and sometimes downright dangerous passenger behaviour.
Such "air rage" incidents have been making increasingly lurid newspaper headlines for a few years, but harder research is beginning to uncover the full extent of the phenomenon and some of its causes. A recent study by the UK College of Aeronautics - part of Cranfield University - has identified a direct link between the rise in disruptive passengers and mounting evidence that flying is becoming more stressful.
The list of air rage incidents is startling. Last year alone, a series of violent incidents hit the headlines around the world. In July, a British Airways Boeing 747 flight from Brazil had to make an emergency landing in Tenerife after an abusive passenger went berserk and tried to open a door over the Atlantic. He was restrained with handcuffs and strapped to a seat until the aircraft arrived at London Gatwick, 4h late. A month earlier, the airline had made a similar emergency landing after a woman, fuelled by a large amount of bourbon and apparently taking the drug methadone, a synthetic substitute for heroin, bit and kicked a stewardess and head-butted the co-pilot when more alcohol was refused.
A fight broke out on a recent KLM flight over Siberia - 5h from its destination in South Korea. When the aircraft landed at Seoul, the aggressive passenger was handed to the authorities. In December, a passenger on board a US Airways flight punched and kicked a stewardess. The man was said to be under the influence of the hallucinogenic drug LSD and was frustrated at not being allowed to bless the pilots.
According to Cranfield, air rage incidents have leaped by 400% worldwide since 1995. The main contributory causes are reported as alcohol and drug abuse and disputes over on-board smoking regulations. Alcohol restricts the amount of oxygen that flows to your brain and flying has the same effect, exacerbating the effect of heavy drinking. A glass of alcohol in the air has the same effect as two on the ground. The same applies to any drug taken during a flight.
In 1997, the UK's flight safety committee recorded 186 incidents on 10 British airlines during one month alone. BA recorded 266 cases of air rage in 1997, the main cause being passengers breaking its non-smoking policy. Incidents included172 of smoking, 25 of smoking and drunkenness, 37 of drunkenness and abusive behaviour and 32 of abusive behaviour. KLM reported an average of 100 air rage incidents each month in the first half of last year.
Air France reported a doubling of air rage incidents to 500 last year, with more than half caused by the use of alcohol or cigarettes. As well as embarking on a flight after consuming too much alcohol, some passengers are boarding aircraft armed, dangerous and clearly with trouble in mind. Airports have given reports of unruly passengers boarding flights with fireworks, car batteries and petrol.
The airlines have already begun to act. Last October's incident of a passenger who attacked an air stewardess with a broken bottle on board an Atriums flight to Malaga seems to be serving as a wake-up call to the industry to tackle the issue. The incident prompted BA to call on the UK Government to spearhead a worldwide effort to eliminate violent passenger behaviour. BA wants overseas governments to agree to extend the right of arrest to local police forces for incidents on board UK-registered aircraft.
Airlines get toughThe UK Civil Aviation Authority recently recommended a practice which, subject to government approval, will define a global framework for handling disturbances on board. The International Air Transport Association (IATA), meanwhile, is set to issue an advisory document on disruptive passengers. A working group within the UK Flight Safety Committee, chaired by CityFlyer captain Nick Dann, is investigating the behaviour of disruptive passengers. Dann calls for "better laws to prosecute offenders, better powers to arrest, and better statistics to bring about those changes".
Iain Jack, BA's head of security, has called for a blacklist of offenders who would be banned from flights. "What is obviously lacking is an effective reporting system, which is why airlines have been unable to obtain effective support from our regulators," says Jack.
For once, BA and arch-rival Virgin are in agreement over an issue. Virgin chairman Richard Branson wants a database of offenders worldwide to be made available to all airlines and holiday companies. "Our stewards and stewardesses work enormously hard to look after our passengers," he says. "They must be protected against maniacs like this. Airlines and holiday companies worldwide must act together to ground anyone for life for this kind of horrible behaviour."
BA introduced a system of "yellow card" warnings in September, borrowing the concept from football (players are cautioned with a yellow card for bad behaviour and are sent off if they re-offend). The airline now issues final warning notices to disruptive passengers, telling offenders that they face arrest on touchdown unless they cease their unacceptable behaviour.
The notices also warn people that they will be liable for costs incurred if their behaviour causes a flight to be diverted. "We hope the yellow card system will prove the ultimate deterrent which, if ignored, can be used in court to ensure a successful prosecution," says David Hyde, BA's director of safety, security and environment.
Last year, KLM launched an employee training programme, Dealing With Aggression, for its 11,000 employees worldwide who have direct contact with passengers. KLM also introduced new policies for dealing with disruptive passengers on 26 October, 1998. The Dutch carrier is training its staff to refuse to board a passenger who looks like a potential troublemaker and to cut off the service of inflight drinks to passengers who become unruly during the flight. Other preventive measures include claims for damages, the hand-cuffing of exceptionally aggressive passengers on board flights, the confiscation of alcohol carried aboard by passengers, and the registration of aggressive passengers. KLM also issues written warnings as a last resort before physical restraint. In serious cases, the Dutch flag carrier also sends letters to the home or business address of the disruptive passenger to prevent the repetition of such behaviour.
But what are the causes?Although airlines are acting to prevent incidents of air rage, little is known about the reasons for such behaviour. BA is urging the UK Government to find a financial backer for urgently needed scientific research into the causes of this new social phenomenon. Cranfield University has already isolated particular negative effects on the psyche of the passenger. The university highlights: alcohol, smoking, a lack of fresh air in the cabin, a fear of flying, opposition to authority and cramped flying conditions.
Over-consumption of alcohol, exacerbated by reduced cabin pressure, heads Cranfield's list as a cause of air rage. The effect is worse on flights from hub airports, where passengers often pass the time between flights by drinking at the bar. The UK CAA also identifies alcohol as the main cause of disruption - most of the 130 reports of air rage incidents on its files are alcohol-related. The CAA stipulates:"It is an offence to be drunk on an aircraft. Offenders face a fine of up to £5,000 [$8,400] or two years in prison, or both, for drunken or disorderly conduct- Drunken passengers can expect to be met by the police on arrival, or the pilot may divert the flight to off-load them en route."
UK charter operator Britannia dismisses the notion of banning alcohol on board flights. "Why shouldn't passengers enjoy a drink on a flight?" says the airline, pointing out that passengers have to pay for alcoholic drinks on board Britannia flights, which should deter them from over-consumption.
The airline says that on a short flight, passengers have insufficient time in which to get drunk.
However, data gathered by by the UK CAA and studied by Cranfield shows that 63% of the reported disruptive incidents happened on short-haul flights, partly because there are more of them.
The problem often starts before the flight, with passengers using spirits to get in the holiday mood before they board. Britannia and other airlines are now training ground staff to look out for any signs of drunken behaviour from passengers before they embark on an aircraft and, if necessary, ban them from a flight.
Nicotine starvation is a second major cause of air rage. Smoking regulations are involved in 70% of air rage cases, with passengers smoking on non-smoking flights, blocking fire alarms in toilets to conceal the fact that they are smoking, or throwing cigarette butts into the chemical toilets. The trend towards banning smoking on flights often frustrates smokers, particularly on long-haul flights, and some airlines provide smoking cubicles.
To counter the frustration caused by nicotine starvation, German pilots are urging airlines to hand out free nicotine patches to tobacco-starved passengers but cut down on the amount of alcohol served during flights. A large proportion of inflight disturbances are caused by alcohol or frustration at the no-smoking rule, says the main German pilots' association, Cockpit.
Conor Whelan, the Cranfield research officer who worked on the recent study, also points to a lack of fresh air as a contributory factor. "The practice of recirculating cabin air to cut fuel costs is being increasingly blamed for passengers' agitated states," he says. Because of a 2% reduction in engine efficiency, aircraft are now fitted with a ventilation system in which half of the air in the cabin is simply filtered, mixed with fresh air and recirculated, producing air with less oxygen and more carbon dioxide. Commercial pressure on airlines has caused them to stretch the concentration of carbon dioxide to 60%, says Whelan.
He also blames the "spoilt child" syndrome or resentment of authority. "Incidents in business or first class are often due to the expectations of premium class passengers. Frequent fliers are not easily intimidated and are often difficult to deal with."
Air rage is certainly not restricted to the back of the aircraft. At first glance, an English football team en route to Hong Kong, a Saudi Arabian princess and a British rock star may not have much in common. But they are all guilty of violent behaviour on board a flight. "There are certainly cases of first and business class passengers who have become violently disruptive," says the International Air Transport Association (IATA). "These people may have a lot more space but, on the other hand, some of them have paid a lot of money for their ticket, so feel they can demand anything. While people at the back of the aircraft are more used to receiving orders, people at the front are more used to giving them."
Passenger expectationsEven charter operators are now experiencing a more discerning type of traveller. "We're not talking about the bucket and spade brigade any more," says Britannia. "People's expectations are higher but they need to complain constructively, not by anger."
Frustration is often fuelled by the growing disparity between passenger expectations, based on glowing advertising and marketing campaigns, and the reality of the flying experience. Although cabin crew spend time informing passengers about safety issues, they are increasingly being accused of losing the personal touch and ridding passengers of their sense of identity by telling them when to eat, sleep and drink. Cramped conditions worsen the stress of flying.
Cranfield's Whelan also points to density of seating as a precursor of air rage. "Airlines may be creating their own problems having reduced seat pitch to what is known as the sardine seating concept," he says. "Coupled with a narrow seat width, this enhances the chances of the passenger feeling claustrophobic and irritated."
The number of passengers travelling together is a further reason for disruptive behaviour. "Given that today's airline customers are more aggressive, more assertive, more demanding and consequently more dangerous than ever, the effect of numerous passengers sitting near each other is acutely relevant," says Whelan. Low-cost Ryanair, for instance, has experienced some incidents on board which have been linked with hen or stag weekend groups, he says.
Air rage is rarely caused by one single factor, but is more often the result of a cumulative effect. An incident such as a seat allocation problem can intensify if the passenger is anxious, drunk, emotional, nervous, on drugs or dogged with personal problems.
Perhaps prevention is better than cure. The IATA feels that relaying information is one of the best ways of relieving tension. "Air travel has become democratised," it says. "Passengers have become used to hearing of delays and not being told why. The best information should be relayed to people at all times to release tension."
The UK CAA agrees that relaying information is an effective way of heading off air rage incidents. It is distributing a free leaflet, entitled Travelling Safely, to UK passengers, explaining the rules and regulations for travelling by air and answering frequently asked questions. The CAA has already distributed the leaflet to more than 4 million passengers this year.
"Travelling by air is extremely safe," says Richard Profit, CAA group director safety regulation. "But many passengers don't realise that they can make their journey even safer and more comfortable by following a set of simple safety precautions."
Of course, safety is not the only issue. By breaking the rules and regulations, passengers are liable to legal action which could leave them with a criminal record, says Profit. But even that sort of penalty is apparently not enough to deter everyone from antisocial behaviour.
Source: Airline Business
