Annotated Bibliography On The Age of Rage
Society's Rage

 Charisse Ono
February 26, 2001

Air Rage

What is Air Rage

    The International Transport Workers' Foundation definition of Air Rage is, " Disruptive passenger behavior that ranges from non-compliance with safety instructions through to actions amounting to verbal harassment or physical assault directed at staff, passengers or the aircraft."

Recent Examples of Air Rage The International Transport Workers’ Foundation defines air rage as “disruptive passenger behavior that ranges from non-compliance with safety instructions through to actions amounting to verbal harassment or physical assault directed at staff, passengers or the aircraft.” In recent years, there has been an alarming increase in the number of air rage incidents. Here are a few recent examples identified by the transport workers group:        October 1998: A cabin crew member of a British aircraft flying from London to Malaga needed 18 stitches in her arm and back after a male passenger smashed a bottle of vodka over her head and raked her body with the jagged glass.        September 1999: A man was jailed for six months and fined $5,000 after assaulting an airline cabin crew member. A U.S. court was told that he stormed the cockpit after being denied alcohol.        March 2000: A man attacked the pilot of a Boeing 707 en route from the Canary Islands to Berlin. He was overpowered by crew members and four passengers before the plane landed safely.        March 2000: An agitated passenger allegedly broke into the cockpit of a San Francisco-bound Alaska Airlines flight, lunged for the controls and shouted, “I’m going to kill you.” The man was subdued by cabin crew members and passengers and the flight landed safely at San Francisco International.          March 2000: An irate woman allegedly entered the cockpit of an America West jetliner in flight and struck the co-pilot. She was later arrested.        May 2000: A female check-in clerk at the Strasbourg airport was punched in the face and scratched and had her uniform torn by a passenger on May 17. The following day all Air France ground crew stopped work at 12:30 p.m. to protest the incident.        July 2000: A Continental Airlines flight returned to Anchorage, Alaska, after a passenger, who had been fighting with her boyfriend, allegedly threw a can of beer at a flight attendant and bit a pilot on the arm.

www.abcnews.go.com/sections/us/DailyNews/flightattend000706.html

Keeping the Skies Friendly

    Universally flight attendants daily face passengers suffering from Air Rage.  This form of rage is often directed at flight attendants, other passengers, or items in the cabin (ex.  seats, food carts, doors, windows, etc.)  With the number of Air rage incidents rising and the cases becoming more and more severe flight attendant union are promoting stricter regulations to deal with violent passengers.  Some suggestions that were made include increasing fines, issuing tickets, and educating passengers about Air Rage. 

Who commits Air Rage?

Air Rage occurs in both class sections of the plane, economic and first class.  In addition Air Rage does not know gender.