United Airlines reminds crew not to hold unruly passengers with duct tape | Airline industry



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United Airlines has asked its employees not to use duct tape to restrain unruly passengers.

In a note sent to employees last Friday, United flight attendants were asked to “remember that there are designated items on board that can be used in difficult situations, and that alternative measures such as adhesive tape should never be used ”.

A lifting of pandemic restrictions, flight attendants across the United States are grappling with an unprecedented increase in unruly passenger behavior.

United’s note came shortly after American Airlines flight attendants restrained a woman with duct tape after trying to open the plane’s doors during a flight.

Shortly after this incident, duct tape was used on Frontier Airlines, when attendants restrained a man in his seat after he acted aggressively and allegedly grabbed an attendant’s breasts.

United officials have already had passengers glued to the table.

In 2003, the airline taped a disruptive passenger on a Honolulu-Los Angeles flight after he “started talking and wandering the aisle … pacing and reading the Bible.”

A few years later, in 2008, the airline used duct tape on a female passenger after she became violent on a flight from Puerto Rico to Chicago, fighting flight attendants and grabbing other passengers.

The tape was not used in 2017 when United agents dragged a doctor off a flight after refusing to give up his seat to employees of a partner airline. David Dao, then 69 years old and a father of five, lost teeth and suffered a broken nose and a concussion. He sued and the case was settled for an undisclosed sum.

United’s memo also stated that “the overwhelming majority of our customers have done their best … and have come back to our flights with confidence and enthusiasm.”

In the event of disorderly behavior, United said, employees should resort to standard de-escalation measures, including using “the meeting process … which involves discussing the situation with the captain, the customer service representative and the call coordinator. ground safety for evaluation and solutions “.

Attendants were also asked to use the safety manual to guide decision making if they believe a customer should be denied service on board.

Employees were also reminded that “in case [they] are unable to come to an agreement with a client on any of our security-related policies, [they] should follow [their] regular de-escalation and training process and always use [their] better judgment ”.



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