During her two decades with Southwest Airlines, flight attendant Stacy Basford has seen the extremes of passenger behavior.
“I have been grabbed and have people dig their nails into my skin; I have been groped by passengers,” she said.
On Thursday morning, she joined other transportation workers in handing out bright red cards at Midway International Airport, trying to raise awareness about the TWU’s “Assault Won’t Fly” campaign.
When scanned, a QR code on the card directs people to the union’s website where they are urging members of Congress to pass new legislation designed to increase penalties for unruly passengers.
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“I have been flying for 30 years and I have never seen anything like this,” said Thom McDaniel, the International Vice President of the Transportation Workers Union of America. “We have had a flight attendant hit in the face and lose teeth,” he said.
That’s why the TWU is pushing for the passage of the Protection from Abusive Passengers Act, which would impose heavy fines for bad behavior and create a universal banned passenger list. That way, McDaniel said, “Somebody can’t assault a flight attendant on Southwest and then walk across the hall and fly on JetBlue with no knowledge of what happened.”
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, unruly passenger incidents are skyrocketing. In 2020, there were only 183 cases reported. Last year, that number jumped to almost 1,100.
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As of Nov. 1, they have tracked 767 such incidents so far this year.
With the holiday travel season approaching, the TWU fears that attacks on its members may increase.
“It is a bit of a perfect storm for airlines,” said Joe Schwieterman, Director of the Chaddick Institute at DePaul University.
“You’ve got people with late flights, memories of late or cancelled flights. It brings out the worst, “ he said.
Travelers like Samantha Nichol say they support the travel workers’ campaign.
“I think if people don’t act the way they should on a plane, they shouldn’t be allowed on a plane,” she said. “The last thing I want is someone disrupting the flight.”
The TWU flight attendants at Midway said their job is to keep passengers safe. That is something they said they cannot do if unruly passengers are allowed to keep flying.
