Airline workers take self-defense courses to deal with unruly passengers



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Flight attendants hone their combat skills as clashes with unruly passengers become more and more common in a not-so-friendly sky.

The Transportation Security Administration has re-launched self-defense courses for flight attendants – as airline workers report growing numbers of unruly passengers, many of whom are angry at masking demands.

The Federal Air Marshal Service teaches the one-day course, which had been interrupted due to the coronavirus pandemic, teaching flight attendants how to strike and even prick the eyes using a combat dummy.

“You might die,” a class in Sunrise, Fla., Was heard in a CNN clip that aired Thursday. “We must defend ourselves at all costs. “

A few hundred have signed up to take the course this year, the network said.

flight attendant self-defense training
TSA is offering training to airline employees amid an increase in unruly passengers on flights.
CBS4
flight attendant self-defense training
The Federal Air Marshal Service teaches the class to help flight attendants in case things get out of hand on flights.
CBS4

“I never want to use all of this,” Donna O’Neil told CNN. “But if I had to do it, I would definitely feel a lot more confident.”

Some 17% of flight attendants said they suffered a physical incident in the first half of 2021, according to an Association of Flight Attendants survey released on Thursday.

Of the 5,000 attendants surveyed at 30 airlines, 85% said they had dealt with unruly passengers – and 58% said they had experienced at least five incidents, according to the survey.

Interviewees cited respect for masks and alcohol as some of the reasons for the increase in aggression in the air. The incidents reported include shoving, throwing trash and “dirty” toilets in response to airline instructions, the association said in a press release.

“This investigation confirms what we all know, the vitriolic, verbal and physical violence of a small group of passengers is completely uncontrollable and endangers the other passengers and the flight crew”, declared the president of the association Sara Nelson in a statement.

Passengers wearing face masks seen at Athens International Airport
Airlines employees said they struggled with customers who did not want to comply with the masking.
NurPhoto via Getty Images

“It’s not just about masks as some have claimed,” she continued. “There is a lot more going on here and the solutions require a series of coordinated actions across aviation.”

There have been 3,615 incidents reported to the Federal Aviation Administration and a “record number of enforcement actions,” the association said.

The group is pushing for action, in particular by making permanent a “zero tolerance” policy for bad behavior by travelers, which was implemented in March 2021.

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