The issue with assuming the customer is always right

   The decades-old mentality that “the customer is always right” is starting to show how it weakens and undermines airport security. The COVID-19 pandemic has seen a steady rise in the number of unruly passengers who resist both Federal regulations and individual airline policies. Those who fail to comply endanger not only their fellow passengers and flight crew members, but also put strain on security systems already in place.  

In a recent unruly passenger case, a man was escorted off an American Airlines flight by Salt Lake City police after he was observed yelling and growling at a flight attendant (Proffer, 2021). This case is not unique. A spokesperson from Southwest Airlines, Chris Mainz, reported on another case from this summer where "law enforcement officials were requested to meet the flight upon arrival, and the passenger was taken into custody” (Gilbertson, 2021). According to Gilbertson (2021), Mainz claimed on behalf of Southwest Airlines that “We do not condone or tolerate verbal or physical abuse of our flight crews, who are responsible for the safety of our passengers”.  

The Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is well familiar with the problem of unruly passengers and the security risks and hazards they can pose. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Administrator Steve Dickson is taking measures to provide a “stricter legal enforcement policy against unruly airline passengers” (Federal Aviation Administration, n.d.). In a letter sent by Dickson to Airport Leaders on August 3rd, 2021, he acknowledges how the current system is failing to hold unruly passengers accountable for their behavior. Dickson admits that while the FAA can fine unruly and disruptive passengers, it has “no authority to prosecute criminal cases” (Federal Aviation Administration, n.d.). In response to the dramatic increase incidents, the FAA has chosen to levy more substantial fines (Muntean, P., & Wallace, G., 2021). Gibson, K., Barnett, E., & Krupnik, K. (2021) state in their report for CBS News that “Robert Bor, an aviation psychologist in London who advises airline crews, blames anxiety over COVID-19 and enclosed spaces”. It seems that efforts to decrease the stress of an airport would be well rewarded by a decrease in passenger stress, and hopefully a reduction in the number of unruly passenger incidents. 

 

 

Federal Aviation Administration (n.d.) 

 

References 

Dickson, S. (2021, August 3). FAA Administrator Dickson Letter to Airports. Washington, DC; U.S. Department of Transportation Federal Aviation Administration. 

Federal Aviation Administration. (n.d.). Unruly passengers. Unruly Passengers | Federal Aviation Administration. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.faa.gov/unruly. 

Gibson, K., Barnett, E., & Krupnik, K. (2021, June 22). Airlines urge government action as "egregious behavior" by unruly passengers soars. CBS News. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.cbsnews.com/news/airlines-unruly-passengers-soars/. 

Gilbertson, D. (2021, May 25). Southwest Airlines passenger who allegedly struck flight attendant charged with Felony Battery. USA Today. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2021/05/25/southwest-airlines-flight-attendant-loses-two-teeth-passenger-assault/7425193002/. 

Inside look: TSA layers of security. Inside Look: TSA Layers of Security | Transportation Security Administration. (2017, August 1). Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.tsa.gov/blog/2017/08/01/inside-look-tsa-layers-security. 

Muntean, P., & Wallace, G. (2021, August 19). FAA proposes more than $500,000 in new fines against unruly airline passengers. CNN. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://edition.cnn.com/2021/08/19/politics/faa-unruly-passengers-fines/index.html. 

Proffer, C. (2021, September 7). Update: New details released about unruly passenger caught on video at SLC Airport. ABC4 Utah. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.abc4.com/news/local-news/unruly-passenger-arrested-on-flight-into-slc-airport/. 

Transportation Security Administration. (n.d.). Security screening. Security Screening | Transportation Security Administration. Retrieved October 3, 2021, from https://www.tsa.gov/travel/security-screening. 

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Air Traffic Control Towers and the Flight Service Station

Image
     The air traffic control tower is one of the icons of many airports. The massive building not only gives a great view of the airport but it is a place that they coordinate takeoffs, landings, ground traffic, and promote the overall safety of aviation. The air traffic control system in the USA. is run by the FAA and split up into 5 divisions: The Air Traffic Control System Command Centers (ATCSCC), Air Route Traffic Control Centers (ARTCC), Air Traffic Control Towers (ATCT), Terminal Radar Approach Control (TRAC), and the Flight Service Station (FSS) (PHAK, 2016). In this blog I'll be discussing the Air Traffic Control Towers and the Flight Service Station. ( The tower above is located at  Kingsford Smith Airport Control Tower in Sydney, Australia)      An Air Traffic Control Tower will advise and update pilots regarding nearby planes and hazardous conditions, issue landing and take-off instructions and clearances, monitor and direct aircraft within...
Read more

Aviation and Transportation Act of 2001

Image
We all know the events that took place on September 11th, 2001 all too well. Not only did it mark the first time in civil aviation's history that the FAA halted all air traffic, it drove the development of the Aviation and Transportation Security Act of 2001 to be signed just over 2 months. The Aviation and Transportation Security Act established the TSA (Transportation Security Administration) as a part of the Department of Transportation and it would later fall under the Department of Homeland Security. This drove aviation security to be a federal manner, rather than an airport and airline responsibility as it once was. The Transportation Security Act strengthened passenger and luggage screening protocols, placed federal standards on the hiring and training of the security personnel, increased the training and awareness of in-flight security, drastically increased the number of air marshals in civil aviation, and strengthened the communication between various federal agencies. (T...
Read more

Ice, snow, and it's impact on airports

Image
    Ice and snow are one of the few events that can quickly and totally shut down an airport. We have already explored the dangers that ice can impose on aircraft, how it increases aircraft weight, decreases the lift generated, and how it interferes with pitot-static instruments. Those alone make ice a massive safety issue and would put it on any airport manager's radar instantly. I will explore the impact on airport infrastructure and their managers.     As anyone that has lived in a cold place, ice and snow can make things quite... slippy, to say the least. While an obvious effect to that issue lies on the runway, where aircraft cannot get enough traction to slow themselves down, it is also an issue for all other ground crew as well. For ice, it can make any operation dangerous, where personnel and equipment can slip. For snow, it creates a barrier to for everyone to get through and can even block aircraft and equipment from moving  (Government of Canada,...
Read more