Anxiety grinds on for these Charlotte flight attendants amid bad behavior by passengers
Before going to work every morning, one Charlotte-based flight attendant prays at home.
The Piedmont Airlines flight attendant, whom the Observer is not naming because she is not authorized to speak with the media, said she already was very spiritual. But since COVID-19 hit the U.S., her job has been much more nerve-wracking.
That’s because unruly passenger incidents on planes are at an all-time high in the U.S.
More than 5,400 reports of unruly passengers have been made this year, and the Federal Aviation Administration initiated more than 1,000 investigations. That’s a huge jump in investigations from just 183 last year and 146 in 2019.
“I was having a lot more anxiety going to work,” the Piedmont flight attendant said. “Oh gosh, is today going to be the day” that passengers would act up with her.
She has worked as a flight attendant for Piedmont, an American Airline subsidiary, for four years, and has been based at Charlotte Douglas International Airport for a year. “But now it’s a completely different job,” she said.
Many of the unruly passenger incidents are related to the federal mask requirement for airports and air travel. Nearly 4,000 of the 5,442 incidents reported to the FAA involve mask issues.
Alcohol use also plays a part in rising tempers, according to the FAA. Since the beginning of the year, the agency said it has received nearly 300 reports of passenger disturbances due to alcohol and intoxication.
The surge in unruly passenger incidents includes a rise in both verbal and physical assaults, Association of Professional Flight Attendants spokesman Paul Hartshorn Jr. told the Observer.
The union represents American Airlines flight attendants, including the roughly 2,400 based out of the Charlotte airport.
“There’s a palpable fear for many flight attendants about coming to work,” he told the Observer. “The behavior that we’re seeing a surge of is life-threatening. It threatens the safety of everyone on board.”
Strict consequences for unruly behavior
As of late November, the FAA has issued more than $1.3 million in fines for unruly behavior. And between January and mid-November, the agency received more than 100 reports of passenger disturbances that involved physical assaults, according to the FAA.
In May, a Southwest Airlines flight attendant was assaulted by a passenger and lost two teeth on a flight from Sacramento, California, to San Diego, USA Today reported.
And in late October, a passenger on a flight from New York City to Orange County, California, hit an American Airlines flight attendant who sustained a concussion, the New York Times reported in November. American CEO Doug Parker called that incident “one of the worst displays of unruly behavior we have ever witnessed” in a video posted to his Instagram.
That passenger will never be allowed to fly American Airlines again, Parker said.
Still, there must be more consequences, he said. American worked with local law enforcement on that incident, and Parker called for “aggressive criminal prosecution.”
Hartshorn said the union would like to see fines increased and enforced.
In late November, Attorney General Merrick Garland directed federal prosecutors to prioritize prosecution of criminal behavior on planes.
That’s a good step, Hartshorn said. The union also wants to see curbing of alcohol sales in airports, along with the implementation of a federal no-fly list for unruly passengers.
“We don’t think it makes sense that someone can physically assault a crew member on one airline and two weeks later purchase a ticket on another airline, putting those crew members in danger,” he said.
‘It’s a different era’
Stories like the flight attendant whose teeth were knocked out are always on the minds of flight attendants like a woman who is an American Airlines employee based in Charlotte.
This flight attendant, whom the Observer also is not naming because she is not authorized to speak with the media, said there wasn’t a specific personal experience with unruly customers that stood out to her — but she was still able to list off many times she’s dealt with disrespectful customers just in recent weeks.
“I had a passenger just the other day that wasn’t allowed to get on,” she said. “…All I saw was the gate agent backing towards the plane. And she was just shouting: ‘Help me, help me.’ ”
The passenger had been increasingly disrespectful to the gate agent after the agent asked her to pick up her boarding pass, the American flight attendant said. A police officer had to come to the gate and other American employees suspected the passenger was mixing medication and alcohol, she said.
“You wouldn’t ever go to work and expect that somebody would speak to you that way,” she said.
Everything about the job feels different to the American flight attendant. And some of that is because things like mask-wearing have been politicized, she said.
She’s worked for American for five years and has been based in Charlotte for two years.
“This isn’t like any other time,” the American Airlines flight attendant said. “It just feels like it’s a different era that we’re living in. Everybody’s just shouting from the rooftops their opinions, and think that it’s OK to just shout them on an airplane now.”
Flight attendants get self-defense training once a year, both women told the Observer. The airline classes are helpful, the Piedmont Airlines employee said — though she’s interested in additional training.
The Federal Air Marshal Services offers a self-defense class for crew members once a month at the agency’s Charlotte field office.
“Our entire job is preparing for the worst-case scenario,” a flight attendant who attended that self-defense class in August told the Observer at the time.
Passengers calming down
Both the Piedmont and American flight attendants are working some days over the Christmas holiday — a busy travel season for airlines.
But the American flight attendant said she’s optimistic that recent news stories about assaults on flight attendants have prompted people to be kinder while traveling.
And FAA data show the rate of unruly passenger incidents has dropped roughly 50% since record highs earlier this year.
“I really want to say that (passengers) have calmed down,” she said. “I think there’s some awareness being brought to the fact that this is all happening.”
It helps that American Airlines pilots now make an announcement reminding passengers that flight attendants are representatives of the pilot, she said.
“I think a lot of passengers think: ‘Oh these are just some stupid girls… they don’t deserve my respect,’ ” she said. “For whatever reason (passengers) respect the pilots but not so much the flight attendants.”
The Piedmont flight attendant said passengers are more likely to accept orders from male pilots than from her or other flight attendants.
“They don’t always want to listen to us,” she added.
That can be hard on a regional carrier like Piedmont, she said. She’s the only flight attendant serving passengers on her flights, unlike the American Airlines flight attendant, who said flight attendants on larger routes can rotate duties dealing with unruly passengers so conflicts don’t escalate.
“You don’t have anybody to back you up,” the Piedmont flight attendant said. “…So it’s kind of like picking and choosing your battles.”
Still, the Piedmont flight attendant is optimistic too. She worked Thanksgiving weekend. Airports were busy, but passengers were very friendly, she said.
“I’ve seen a shift in the passengers since fall has hit,” she said. “I think they know that (COVID) is not going anywhere.
“I think people are more empathetic,” she added.
This story was originally published December 3, 2021 at 6:15 AM with the headline "Anxiety grinds on for these Charlotte flight attendants amid bad behavior by passengers."
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