Women workers easy targets for unruly passengers

New Delhi: Air rage is now a reality at Indian airports as well as in the skies. On a recent Delhi-Bangkok flight, for instance, air hostesses complained of terrible eve-teasing inside the plane by some passengers. The pilot had to announce that he would make emergency landing in a country where people can be jailed for such an offence. This threat immediately had a sobering impact.
Trying to explain emerging passenger behaviour trends, Siddhanta Sharma, CEO of Spicejet, said, "First time fliers are eager to know about the aircraft and complications first hand as they would do in a train or bus."
The situation is far worse on ground as passengers are increasingly refusing to accept being herded like cattle even before they enter their cattle class cabins.
But increasingly, such anger often translates into ill-treatment of woman employees. "A couple of months back, a passenger broke the arm of a lady airport staffer. Sometimes female employees have their clothes torn by unruly people inside airports," a person connected with the study said.
"There are times when reason fails. The crew is then permitted to resort to the use of physical restraint to control the passenger.
Some foreign airlines now carry on board plastic handcuffs for this purpose," says aviation security expert Colonel B P Suman.
09/02/07 Saurabh Sinha/Times of India

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Categories: General Aviation feb 2007, safety feb 2007