Cabin pressure reaches new high

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An increasing number of air passengers are finding themselves in hot water and even behind bars as a result of bizarre behaviour from drunkenly abusing cabin crew, sparking bomb scares and starting fights with fellow travellers.

But what causes seemin-gly ordinary people to lose the plot once the seatbelt sign is lit?

Dr Roghy McCarthy is Dubai-based psychologist who helps train cabin crew on how to deal with irate cust-omers as well as treating potential passengers with a fear of flying.

She said: "Unfortunately, some people do not respect the career of the ladies and men who are cabin crew and they take advantage of them. Some people think that because they paid for their seat, they own the crew as well and that can make them have a bad attitude. Also, some people think their holiday starts as soon as they step on the plane and that normal rules of behaviour don't apply."

One Dubai-based air stewardess agrees that a feeling of superiority is often at the root of many incidents of air rage.

"They think you are their servants and tell you do this and do that," she said. "Once a man in business class threw his pillow in my face because he didn't get his headset straight away."

This month has seen several high-profile examples of cabin fever hit the headlines. Last week a Libyan man was jailed for three months after getting drunk, slapping a passenger and threatening to blow up the plane on an Emirates flight from Tunis to Dubai.

And Air Indian crew on a flight from Sharjah to Delhi showed even the staff are not immune to fraying tempers after a scuffle broke out between the pilot and his crew.

There are no centrally held figures for air rage incidents but Britain's Civil Aviation Authority (CAA) reported a 32 per cent increase in the first quarter of 2009 compared to last year with 601 cases of 'serious' or 'significant' air rage and 25 per cent involve women.

McCarthy also says anxiety is a catalyst for aggression often compounded by alcohol.

"Some people have a fear of flying but cover it up and sometimes use alcohol to do this," she said.

"I work with people who have a flying phobia and I always tell them not to self-medicate with a whisky or vodka because it only makes things worse. Prescribed medicat-ion can be used and relaxation techniques help a lot."

The cabin crew member told 7DAYS that they are trained to keep an eye out for people who might be too keen on a tipple.

She said: "Incidents with passengers becoming aggressive and causing problems do happen. We are trained how to deal with people and keep them calm but sometimes you do have to restrain them.

Sometimes alcohol is part of the reason but we know how to deal with people who have been drinking and we are also know not to serve people if they are at risk of becoming drunk."

Cabin crew undergo intense training on how to deal with difficult passengers verbally but are also taught to protect themselves.

McCarthy said: "When we are working with crew we teach them how to negotiate, how to ignore some passenger behaviour and how to be assertive. They know how to respect the passenger but they must also respect themselves."

She added: "They are human beings like anybody else and should not be treated badly. If you're not careful you could end up locked in the toilet - cabin crew know how to restrain people physically if they have to."

© 7Days 2009