United reminds crew not to restrain unruly passengers with duct tape

United has asked its employees to not use duct tape to restrain unruly passengers. In a memo sent to employees last Friday, United flight attendants were urged to “please remember that there are designated items onboard that may be used in difficult situations, and alternative measures such as tape should never be used”. As pandemic restrictions lift, flight attendants across the US have been grappling with an unprecedented rise in unruly passenger behavior. The United memo came soon after American Airlines flight attendants restrained a woman with tape after she tried to open the plane’s doors during a flight. Shortly after that 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. The United memo also said “the overwhelming majority of our customers have been on their best behavior … and returned to our flights with confidence and enthusiasm”. In instances of disorderly behavior, United said, employees should resort to standard de-escalation measures, including using “the huddle process … which involves discussing the situation with the captain, customer service representative and ground security coordinator for evaluation and solutions”.<br/>