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Is it possible that the age of civility is something we read about only in history books? Time magazine did a piece about how passengers are creating inflight safety issues because of their inability to control their anger.

When you have 116 or 520 new companions sharing a ride in the airplane, the long aluminum tube in the sky, they all aren’t going to be best friends. Indeed, depending upon what type of day each individual may be having, you may catch one or more of these passengers itching for a fight. Yes, a fight with anyone, about anything. They are just pissed off.

Interestingly, Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, which represents 50,000 members at 20 airlines expressed her concern that flight attendants are being marginalized by the passengers and their employers. We all know (or should) that the first responsibility of each flight attendant is to ensure that the safety of the passengers. The drink or meal service is secondary to safety. Nelson noted, “If we have not established that authority, and passengers are not listening to flight attendants, it can be catastrophic. It can be the demise of an entire airplane.”

Passenger complaints can, and should be, lodged with the Department of Transportation (DOT). In the June 2018 report from the DOT covering April 2018 metrics there were 1,169 consumer complaints made, down from 1,908 in April 2017. With millions of passengers a day being transported, there are bound to be a few glitches. And it doesn’t matter one iota if the odds of something untoward happening on your flight, when it’s you, its happening. This is where that self-control your mother taught you to display comes in handy. A disruption in flight gets you removed from the flight by federal law enforcement. We know how that normally ends.

To read the entire June DOT report: Aviation Consumer Protection - June 2018 Report.