Rage in the air

I overheard this conversation on my flight this week — a polite airhostess requesting a passenger to get off his phone and listen to the emergency seat instructions. The passenger is disinterested, wanting instead to complete his call. “Sir, please, I need your attention.” “I know what’s to be done.” “Sir, I still need you to listen to me.” “What’s there to know? Evacuate, evacuate, evacuate! I know that’s what’s to be said.” “Sir, I need you to pay attention.” I was half anticipating this conversation to spiral into an altercation but thankfully it didn’t. The passenger hangs up, airhostess gives her instructions, and signs off with an earnest thanks to the irate passenger.

Air travel indeed has changed. I remember my parents’ generation gushing over air travel as a most cherished experience. The convenience of reaching destinations within a few short hours compared to long, arduous trips by road or train, wasn’t ever taken lightly. Smart cabin crew with their warm smiles and welcome hospitality thousands of miles above the ground, were celebratory memories. Today, with the advent of budget airlines, most of us fly cattle class. More seats have been added to planes to accommodate a larger number of passengers and increase revenues for the airlines. The frills of yesteryears ruthlessly culled to stop airline companies from bleeding. And with us paying extra for everything from seats to luggage, that once special experience is now as commonplace as taking a local bus. There is no space for courtesy just as there is no space for our squashed legs.

A slew of recent incidents of misbehaviour and violence have added a new connotation to the mile-high club. Unruly passengers urinating on their neighbours, or drunken, semi-clad ones abusing cabin crew, from fisticuffs between fellow passengers to blows raining on hapless cabin crew — a series of unfortunate incidents fill up Indian and global air travel. It seems almost like a sudden awakening of social misdemeanour that takes over once a plane takes off.

In 2022, 63 badly behaved passengers were put on the no-fly list, said the Union Civil Aviation Ministry. In 2021, there were 45, while 3 have already entered the infamous list this year. A total of 143 passengers can’t travel the skies since 2017. Other nations too have had a barrage of passenger misbehaviour. In the US, almost 500 incidents were reported every month in 2021, as per the US Federal Aviation Administration. A flight attendant was hospitalised after being assaulted by a passenger, another passenger threatened to stab with a box-cutter, while a third threatened to open an exit door mid-flight!

Recent incidents have necessitated changes to airline policy. Air India, for instance, has modified its in-flight alcohol service policy wherein they have been instructed to tactfully refuse serving more alcohol to an inebriated passenger but refrain from calling them “drunk”. The airline also plans to use enterprise cloud software application, Coruson, to report unruly passengers in real time and improve safety management.

Why are so many people losing it up in the air? Perhaps a few years of no air travel has robbed people of basic travel etiquette. People are harrowed and stressed with short fuses, unfamiliar with social niceties, grappling with acclimatisation with society. These incidents, while rampant post-pandemic, were not totally absent before the advent of Covid-19 either. What must one do to contain this growing menace? Passengers must exhibit basic decorum and if they are devoid of them, then they must face the music. Ill-mannered passengers often feel that they will get away with poor behaviour. And they often do. We seldom hold people accountable for their unreasonable behaviour. That has to change. Name and shame them, levy hefty fines, and if it warrants it, then handcuff, arrest, and place them on ‘No Fly List’. Cabin crew also must be better trained to handle such situations while in the flight. The action on the ground has to be swift and strict. This is very much possible because we have the regulations in place; sadly, they are rarely exercised.

The writer is an author and media entrepreneur. Views expressed are personal