Drunken air rage thugs ‘have to be banned from airports’ after rise in air crew assaults
Workers have been groped, threatened with rape and even had hot drinks chucked in their faces by nightmare passengers, a survey found. Alcohol has been blamed as a trigger
A union is demanding action(Image: Getty Images/Image Source)
Boozy air rage yobs should be banned from airports altogether after a huge rise in abuse of airline staff, a union is demanding. Workers have been groped, threatened with rape and even had hot drinks chucked in their faces by nightmare passengers.
One customer service assistant was threatened with a sex attack at airport e-gates, while a female cabin crew member said a passenger grabbed her with both hands as she secured the cabin.
Another worker had drinks “thrown in my face multiple times” after telling passengers they could not take them on board. A Unite union survey found 72% of ground staff and 71% of cabin crew suffer verbal abuse at least once a month, with alcohol blamed as the biggest trigger.
Workers said they had suffered physical assaults (STOCK IMAGE)(Image:
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And more than a third of ground workers and 42% of cabin crew said they had experienced physical assaults at some point. More than half of ground staff also reported being threatened, with workers warning that this summer had been particularly bad.
Unite is demanding tougher action, including airport-wide bans for disruptive passengers, more police, panic alarms and better training for staff. It also wants a national blacklist of troublemakers to stop them simply switching airlines after causing chaos.
The union is calling for tougher punishments, with disruptive passengers currently facing fines of up to £5,000 and two years behind bars.
Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Abuse towards airport and aviation workers is not part of the job, it is a workplace safety issue that affects workers on the ground and in the air and can ultimately put other passengers at risk. Airports and airlines now need to up their game on this.”
Airports UK said workers deal with unruly passengers with “the utmost seriousness” and will not tolerate abuse directed at them.
A Department for Transport spokesman said: “Any abuse of staff or passengers, whether on a flight or in the airport, is completely unacceptable.” The Government said it was working with industry and unions to improve information sharing about rogue passengers.
