Bad Airline Behaviour: Anger in the Sky

Flying can be a stressful experience. Passengers have to navigate airports, wait in queues and then sit in uncomfortable, narrow seats on a full plane, often for many hours. What’s more, every year hundreds of people add to the stress by behaving badly. This can be more than just flying nerves. Some people board the plane drunk, have loud or violent arguments, or even physically fight with staff or other passengers. There have even been cases when the plane has been forced to make an unscheduled stop and the passenger(s) removed, at considerable cost. Here are just a few of the many bizarre incidents reported in recent years.

Song on repeat

We all know that feeling when we can’t stop replaying a song in our heads. However, sometimes it becomes an obsession. On an American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to New York, a female passenger wouldn’t stop singing a song out loud, over and over again. The song was I Will Always Love You by Whitney Houston and her rendition of it was so irritating to other passengers that the flight was diverted to Kansas City, where she was escorted off the plane.

A justified response?

News stories about antagonism between airline passengers have proliferated in recent years. However, some induce more understanding from readers than others. Take the conflict between two passengers that forced a United Airlines flight from New Jersey to Colorado to divert to Chicago. The conflict began when a man used a device to stop a woman in front of him reclining in her seat. He then ignored requests from personnel to remove the device, which is not permitted by the airline. In response, the female passenger threw a cup of water on him, aggravating the situation. Though many felt her response was entirely justified, both passengers were removed from the plane.

Emergency exit

When we arrive at our destination, all any of us want to do is get off the plane as quickly as possible. One passenger was so impatient to get off a flight when it arrived in Melbourne last summer that he forced open an emergency exit, causing a slideto deploy. But then, instead of sliding down the slide, he walked on the wing of the plane and slid down the engine to the ground, where he was immediately arrested.

Serious trouble

Airline passengers who behave badly face strict penalties. They can be fined tens of thousands of dollars, be banned for life from flying with the airline, or even go to prison. And yet these punishments don’t prevent the hundreds of incidents of unruly behaviour that take place each year even though it jeopardises the safety of other passengers. Have a safe flight!