Surprisingly, in spite of the events of September 2001, Air Rage incidents have continued to climb over the past years, and the factors involved remain unaltered and unaddressed (for a listing of Air Rage incidents over the last few years, have a look at
The International Air Transport
Association (IATA) saw a 29% rise in incidents on board flights between 2009
and 2010. Between 2007 and 2009, the International Air Transport
Association reported a 687 per cent increase in the number of air rage
incidents internationally.
"Passengers are far less
patient today than ever before. This makes them quicker to snap," said
Heather Poole, author of "Cruising Attitude."
"Before September 11, if we
asked passengers to remain seated to let those with tight connections to get
off first, people would stay seated. Now no one cares. People practically push
each other over to get off and on the plane. It's sad to see."
Alejandro Piera with the
International Civil Aviation Organization the said there were 127 serious
incidents of unruly passengers in the U.S., 488 in Australia and 44 in the U.K.
So Air Rage might be one of
those things that is just going to remain a constant “part of our DNA” and
possibly increase as the airlines strive to make the air travel experience
commonplace, and therefore encourage loutish behaviour. If that is the case, then what are we in the
industry to do about it?
Road Rage is pretty well
established, and incidents at bars and so on where alcohol is present and
available (as on most aircraft still) are well documented, but the consequences
of an incident at 30,000 feet over the Atlantic can be serious, and could be catastrophic. It is only through the professionalism of the
flight crews and cabin crews that an accident has not yet happened.
The cabin crews themselves are
now under increasing strain, and their primary role in ensuring the safety of
the flight has been replaced by the role of waiter / waitress. The airlines have a duty of care towards
their staff, and the current policy of ensuring the safety of the flight by
locking the flight deck door does not seem to me to be part of the statutory
duty of care, essential though it is in these days of terrorism.
At the very least, the pilot in
charge of the flight needs to have sufficient information about what is
happening in the passenger cabin to make the correct choices to ensure the
safety of his aircraft.
One of the consequences of the
events of 9/11 2001 was the adoption by most countries (interestingly excluding
the US) of video camera systems around the flight deck door, coupled to
monitors on the flight deck such that the pilot and co-pilot can make decisions
before allowing access to the cockpit.
Surely the time is now right to extend the coverage of these cameras
into the whole passenger cabin.
