US: New survey shows most flight attendants have dealt with unruly passengers

Eighty-four percent of flight attendants have had to handle unruly passengers this year and 17% of them have experienced a physical incident, according to a labor union survey published Thursday. The FAA has received more than 3,600 reports of unruly passengers so far this year, nearly three-quarters of those involving passengers who refuse to comply with the federal mask mandate, the agency said this week. Failure to follow flight crew instructions is against the law. Sixty percent of respondents who said they had a physical incident on board said law enforcement was requested to meet their fleet as did a third of those who noted a verbal incident, according to the survey from the Association of Flight Attendants. “This survey confirms what we all know, the vitriol, verbal and physical abuse from a small group of passengers is completely out of control, and is putting other passengers and flight crew at risk,” union president Sara Nelson said. She called on the FAA to make its “zero tolerance” policy permanent. Airlines and labor unions last month asked the Justice Department to pursue criminal charges against for violent passenger behavior. The AFA, the largest flight attendant union, said it collected responses from almost 5,000 cabin crew members across 30 airlines between June 25 and July 14. Earlier this year, the FAA announced a zero tolerance policy for unruly passenger behavior. As of Tuesday, the agency said it has started 610 investigations and 95 enforcement actions. Flight attendants say not every case gets reported so incidents of unruly travelers could be higher than what is reported to the FAA.<br/>