Cabin crew are becoming increasingly concerned for their safety as a result of a spike in violence and disruption caused by passengers.
A number of reports have emerged over recent weeks of out-of-control and violent passengers during the busiest time for the aviation sector since before the Covid-19 pandemic.
This summer has also seen near-constant reports of airport shambles, workers’ strikes amid staff shortages – following mass redundancies during the pandemic, and fed-up passengers suffering from delays, cancellations and lost baggage.
The chaos has become so bad that one flight attendant said she changes out of her uniform as soon as work is over because she fears for her safety if recognised as cabin crew.
The anonymous staff member of an international airline wrote about her experience in an op-ed for The Guardian.
Cabin crew say they do not feel safe amid a post-pandemic summer travel boom
(Getty Images/iStockphoto)
Writing under the pen name Meryl Love, the airline staffer said many passengers are “furious” about the disruption caused to their travel plans, and that she often bears the brunt of their frustration.
She wrote: “He recounts a litany of offences committed by the airline: lost bags and prams, delayed flights, a night at the airport, all while jabbing a finger at me like I was the mastermind who’d planned and orchestrated the whole thing.
“It always amuses me when people talk to me as if I were the chief executive: ‘Your company is a disgrace, how dare you treat people like this.’
“I wish, buddy. I wish. I’m just a very minor player on a very minor salary, but it’s part of my job to take it, so I do.”
She adds: “As soon as I’m out of the security turnstiles, I take my uniform off.
“I used to leave it on for the way home but now, if you’re anywhere in the vicinity of the airport, you’re an unofficial public relations rep for the whole airline industry. I sit on the tube and hope no one recognises me from the flight.”
Over recent weeks, there have been numerous reports of passenger violence and harassment often fuelled by alcohol.
On Tuesday, a Virgin Atlantic plane from Heathrow bound for Los Angeles had to make an emergency stop in Salt Lake City because a British man was reportedly drunk and tried to “kick out the windows”.
Last week, a man on a Delta flight from LA to Orlando was accused of groping a teenage girl after reportedly mixing sleeping pills and alcohol.
Meanwhile a fortnight ago, a
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