Article
Airlines See Shocking Rise in Disruptive Passenger Behaviour
Published: Wed 24 Jun 2015 at 10:13
Updated: Wed 24 Jun 2015 at 10:26
- UK Travel Operators, led by Jet2.com, pledge decisive action
As the summer holiday season moves into full swing, the UK’s largest holiday companies are reporting a record double figure rise in disruptive passenger behaviour. As a result, leading leisure airline Jet2.com, along with some of the UK’s biggest travel operators, is calling for industry-wide measures to tackle what has become a serious problem for the travel sector.
Phil Ward, Managing Director of Jet2.com said, “We are a family airline and holiday company carrying millions of passengers every year. These are people who have chosen to take their well-earned summer breaks with us and we want them to have a wonderful time. Therefore, under no circumstances will we allow the disruptive few to spoil the experience for the majority of the fantastic customers that fly with us.”
Jet2.com is working closely with other high profile holiday companies, industry bodies such as BATA (British Air Transport Association), the AOA (Airport Operators Association) and the UK’s leading airports, to put in place a series of comprehensive measures to tackle disruptive conduct associated with air travel.
Over the past two years, unruly and disorderly behaviour often linked to excessive alcohol consumption prior to embarkation has risen drastically on-board aircraft. Cabin crew increasingly have to deal with people displaying abusive, racist and often noisy and aggressive conduct, causing misery and disruption for other passengers nearby.
Jet2.com has already put in place a series of measures under its ‘Onboard Together’ programme, to educate passengers about the effects of alcohol at high altitude, and to outline its policies. It has empowered its staff to take decisions quickly regarding disruptive passengers including verbal and written warnings and, ultimately, the ability to divert the aircraft to the nearest airport to off-load particularly offensive people before flying remaining passengers onto their holiday destination. Measures also include banning disruptive passengers for life, handing them over to the police, issuing a bill for the cost of the diversion and taking legal action, post travel.
Jet2.com, along with its fellow operators, has also written to the Secretary of State for Transport, urging more decisive action from the government to help them enforce new policies to ensure unpleasant and disruptive behaviour during air travel is eradicated.
Continues Phil Ward, “By far and away the majority of the travelling public are decent people wanting to have a great holiday. We want people to have a fantastic time from the moment they start their holidays with us. Most passengers absolutely know how to behave on board, whilst having a good time too. It’s for that reason that we must stamp out this rise in disruptive behaviour.”
