Flight Attendants Want Action

Updated: Fri, Jul 06 5:03 PM EDT

By DAVID HO, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON (AP) - Brawls in the sky and other acts of air rage are getting worse, according to flight attendants, who accuse airlines and government agencies of endangering air travelers by failing to combat the problem.

In its second annual air rage report card, the Association of Flight Attendants gave failing grades Friday to airlines, the Justice Department and the Federal Aviation Administration.

"U.S. airlines have failed to promote cabin safety over their profits," Patricia Friend, the union's president, said at a news conference. Five years ago, she said, airline crews "didn't have to worry about going to work and getting beat up."

Friend said airlines fail to train crews properly to deal with air rage, which can include passenger misconduct ranging from making too much noise to breaking into cockpits and attacking airline crews.

"It is a problem, but we don't think it's a huge epidemic that is out of control," said Diana Cronin, a spokeswoman for the Air Transport Association, which represents major U.S. air carriers. She said the association estimates 3,000 to 4,000 incidents occur each year in which passengers are rude or obnoxious but break no laws.

Cronin cited FAA figures identifying 314 incidents of misbehaving passengers last year that resulted in arrests or other official reports to the agency.

The flight attendants said that number does not represent the true scope of the problem and criticized the FAA for not forcing airlines to report all incidents of air rage.

FAA spokesman Les Dorr wouldn't comment on the union's charges but said existing rules allow the agency to fine "unruly" passengers up to $25,000.

The flight attendants also said the Justice Department has not sufficiently informed local law enforcement officers that they have federal authority to arrest abusive passengers.

Department spokesman Chris Watney said local officers have been deputized as federal marshals when there has been a need at specific airports.

Lynn White, a United Airlines flight attendant, said that in April she was struck in the face by a passenger, one of identical twin sisters who were arrested and charged with causing such a disruption that the flight from San Francisco to Shanghai, China, had to be diverted to Anchorage, Alaska.

Prosecutors said Cynthia and Crystal Mikula, aged 22 at the time, drank too much and fought with each other and the flight crew. The case is pending, and if convicted the sisters face up to 20 years in prison.

"Handling these two out-of-control women put the entire flight in danger," White said.

In a well-known case of air rage in 1999, a Continental Airlines agent at Newark International Airport suffered a broken neck in a confrontation with a male passenger, who was acquitted of assault this year.

On Friday, airline workers handed out leaflets in Washington to educate passengers about air rage. Similar demonstrations were planned at airports in San Francisco, Phoenix and Charlotte, N.C.

Other airline workers around the world planned to meet with government officials to discuss the problem.

But Kristie Karen, a saleswoman flying from Washington to Chicago, said the only air rage she had seen had come from rude flight attendants who don't adequately inform travelers about delays and cancellations.

"It's air rage because the airlines aren't doing their jobs to secure those attendants," Karen said while waiting in line at Ronald Reagan Washington National Airport, clutching an air rage leaflet in one hand. "If they would give out information in a timely manner, you wouldn't see air rage."

The flight attendants' union blames rising tensions among passengers on overbooking, crowded planes and frequent delays.

David Stempler, president of the Air Travelers Association, said airline employees endure those conditions far more often than passengers and must bear responsibility for some air rage incidents.