Handling of Abusive Absurd and Intoxicated Passenger
Annex 17 to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Chicago Convention
(Convention on International Civil Aviation Security Safeguarding International Civil
Aviation Against Acts of Unlawful Interference) defines a disruptive passenger as: "A
passenger who fails to respect the rules of conduct at an airport or on board an aircraft or to
follow the instructions of the airport staff or crew members and thereby disturbs the good
order and discipline at an airport or on board the aircraft."
The Tokyo Convention (1963), also known as The Convention on Offences and Certain
Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, makes it unlawful to commit “Acts which, whether
or not they are offences [against the penal law of a State], may or do jeopardize the safety of
the aircraft or of persons or property therein or which jeopardize good order and discipline
on board.”
Safety and security are considered the airline industry’s top priorities. However, disruptive
passengers have, over the past several years, become more prevalent and unruly passenger
incidents are currently a very real and serious threat to both safety and security.
The Problem
An unruly passenger is someone who, by action considered risk or might endanger the safety
of the aircraft, persons or property therein or the accepted level of good order and discipline
on board. To help airlines more easily identify the problem, International Air Transport
Association (IATA) has developed and promulgated a "non-exhaustive" list of examples of
what is considered unruly or disruptive behaviour whilst on board an aircraft. This list
includes:
Illegal consumption of narcotics
Refusal to comply with safety instructions (not following Cabin Crew requests such as
direction to fasten a seat belt, to not smoke, to turn off a portable electronic device or
by disrupting the safety announcements)
Verbal confrontation with crew members or other passengers
Physical confrontation with crew members or other passengers
Uncooperative passenger (examples include interfering with the crew’s duties, refusing
to follow instructions to board or leave the aircraft)
Making threats of any kind towards the crew, other passengers or the aircraft
Sexual abuse / harassment
Other type of unruly behaviour (examples include: screaming, annoying behaviour,
kicking and banging heads on seat backs or tray tables)
The Causes
There are numerous factors and triggers that can lead a typical member of the travelling
public towards unruly behaviour. These include, but are not limited to:
Intoxication
Drug use
Mental Health issues
Anxiety
, Fatigue
Frustration as a result of personal issues or from travel related dissatisfies such as:
o Pre-boarding issues:
Long queues
The security and screening process
Departure delays (and the lack of timely information)
Missed connections
o Post-boarding issues
Crowded conditions
Lack of personal space
Unserviceable equipment (seat won't recline, in-flight entertainment
system in-operative etc)
Annoying individuals in one's vicinity (loud or noisy passengers, seat
kickers, crying babies etc)
Of all of the causal factors listed, intoxication is the single item that triggers the majority of
unruly passenger events.
Levels of Threat
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has defined a four tier threat level.
Although all National Aviation Authorities (NAA) do not follow these specific definitions,
they provide valuable guidance to operators in determining the seriousness of an unruly
passenger incident and in developing their policies on appropriate level of response. The
ICAO level of threat specifics are as follows:
Level 1 — Disruptive behaviour (verbal);
Level 2 — Physically abusive behaviour;
Level 3 — Life-threatening behaviour (or display of a weapon);
Level 4 — Attempted or actual breach of the flight crew compartment.
Policies
The best management and mitigation strategy for unruly passenger events is prevention
through early detection, intervention and resolution of the root problem. To achieve this, the
air carrier needs to develop an SOP for a preventative strategy that is based on increased
awareness of passenger behaviour and the education of all employees on:
the implementation of a “Zero Tolerance” policy
how the air carrier will respond to disruptive acts
the type of response to and the consequences of unruly behaviour.
The policy for dealing with unruly passengers should be tough. Dealing firmly with
disruptive behaviour will likely serve as a restrictive to unruly passenger events. Polices
might include provisions to:
Provide necessary awareness training and the appropriate procedures and protocols to
identify potentially unruly behaviour and to intervene when unruly behaviour occurs.
Encourage Ground Staff to detect and report unruly passenger behaviour at check-in, in
the lounges and at the boarding gate.
Annex 17 to the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) Chicago Convention
(Convention on International Civil Aviation Security Safeguarding International Civil
Aviation Against Acts of Unlawful Interference) defines a disruptive passenger as: "A
passenger who fails to respect the rules of conduct at an airport or on board an aircraft or to
follow the instructions of the airport staff or crew members and thereby disturbs the good
order and discipline at an airport or on board the aircraft."
The Tokyo Convention (1963), also known as The Convention on Offences and Certain
Other Acts Committed on Board Aircraft, makes it unlawful to commit “Acts which, whether
or not they are offences [against the penal law of a State], may or do jeopardize the safety of
the aircraft or of persons or property therein or which jeopardize good order and discipline
on board.”
Safety and security are considered the airline industry’s top priorities. However, disruptive
passengers have, over the past several years, become more prevalent and unruly passenger
incidents are currently a very real and serious threat to both safety and security.
The Problem
An unruly passenger is someone who, by action considered risk or might endanger the safety
of the aircraft, persons or property therein or the accepted level of good order and discipline
on board. To help airlines more easily identify the problem, International Air Transport
Association (IATA) has developed and promulgated a "non-exhaustive" list of examples of
what is considered unruly or disruptive behaviour whilst on board an aircraft. This list
includes:
Illegal consumption of narcotics
Refusal to comply with safety instructions (not following Cabin Crew requests such as
direction to fasten a seat belt, to not smoke, to turn off a portable electronic device or
by disrupting the safety announcements)
Verbal confrontation with crew members or other passengers
Physical confrontation with crew members or other passengers
Uncooperative passenger (examples include interfering with the crew’s duties, refusing
to follow instructions to board or leave the aircraft)
Making threats of any kind towards the crew, other passengers or the aircraft
Sexual abuse / harassment
Other type of unruly behaviour (examples include: screaming, annoying behaviour,
kicking and banging heads on seat backs or tray tables)
The Causes
There are numerous factors and triggers that can lead a typical member of the travelling
public towards unruly behaviour. These include, but are not limited to:
Intoxication
Drug use
Mental Health issues
Anxiety
, Fatigue
Frustration as a result of personal issues or from travel related dissatisfies such as:
o Pre-boarding issues:
Long queues
The security and screening process
Departure delays (and the lack of timely information)
Missed connections
o Post-boarding issues
Crowded conditions
Lack of personal space
Unserviceable equipment (seat won't recline, in-flight entertainment
system in-operative etc)
Annoying individuals in one's vicinity (loud or noisy passengers, seat
kickers, crying babies etc)
Of all of the causal factors listed, intoxication is the single item that triggers the majority of
unruly passenger events.
Levels of Threat
International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) has defined a four tier threat level.
Although all National Aviation Authorities (NAA) do not follow these specific definitions,
they provide valuable guidance to operators in determining the seriousness of an unruly
passenger incident and in developing their policies on appropriate level of response. The
ICAO level of threat specifics are as follows:
Level 1 — Disruptive behaviour (verbal);
Level 2 — Physically abusive behaviour;
Level 3 — Life-threatening behaviour (or display of a weapon);
Level 4 — Attempted or actual breach of the flight crew compartment.
Policies
The best management and mitigation strategy for unruly passenger events is prevention
through early detection, intervention and resolution of the root problem. To achieve this, the
air carrier needs to develop an SOP for a preventative strategy that is based on increased
awareness of passenger behaviour and the education of all employees on:
the implementation of a “Zero Tolerance” policy
how the air carrier will respond to disruptive acts
the type of response to and the consequences of unruly behaviour.
The policy for dealing with unruly passengers should be tough. Dealing firmly with
disruptive behaviour will likely serve as a restrictive to unruly passenger events. Polices
might include provisions to:
Provide necessary awareness training and the appropriate procedures and protocols to
identify potentially unruly behaviour and to intervene when unruly behaviour occurs.
Encourage Ground Staff to detect and report unruly passenger behaviour at check-in, in
the lounges and at the boarding gate.
