DISRUPTIVE PASSENGERS: TIME FOR A DIFFERENT APPROACH

摘要

Since 9/11, aviation security has mainly focused on the threat from terrorism, and understandably so; air travel continues to be a high-value target for terrorists and attacks can happen anytime, in any place, usually with devasting consequences. It was hard to imagine anything could affect aviation like the 9/11 attacks, especially a threat that is not terror-related. But COVID-19 has done just that, with effects that will last considerably longer. With that in mind, has the time now come to refocus some of the aviation security resources away from the protection against terrorism to a more frequently occurring and disruptive security event, specifically, unruly passengers? Prior to COVID-19, industry-wide incidents of unruly passengers were on the rise, with stories regularly appearing online and in newspapers, and no airline was, or is, immune. The leading cause of disruptive passenger incidents is alcohol. Most of us will have been in a pub or nightclub and seen the negative impacts of excessive alcohol consumption. Luckily, in these situations, we have been able to walk away and avoid potential conflict. At 37,000ft, aircraft crew and customers don't have this option. Some readers may have been involved in such an incident whilst working and seen first-hand the significant impact a disruptive passenger can have on airline operations, the staff involved and the customer experience.