ORLANDO, Fla. — Airline workers from the Transport Workers Union gathered at Orlando International Airport to speak about unruly and abusive passengers, after the number of incidents has skyrocketed over the past two years.
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Those who gathered said it’s a scary situation. People were on edge with mask issues, and now flight delays.
Workers from Southwest, Allegiant and JetBlue handed out bracelets, cards and fliers that read “Assault Won’t Fly,” part of their campaign to educate passengers to try to get laws passed to better project employees.
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“They just go crazy now,” flight attendant Raychel Armstrong said. “So all it takes is one person, and you’re trapped up at 35,000 feet in the air in a metal tube — and that’s scary.”
The number of incidents involving unruly passengers investigated by the FAA jumped by more than 500% from 2020 to 2021.
“I have been assaulted by a man that grabbed me by the waist and tried to force me onto his lap,” Armstrong said, adding that she didn’t report the incident since she felt there was nothing that would happen to the passenger, and she felt guilt herself that it even happened.
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The workers are also pushing for legislation calling on regulators and airline executives to put policies in place to better protect workers in the sky.
Congressman Darren Soto is one of the lawmakers behind a House bill called the Protection from Abusive Passengers Act.
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