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American Morning
The Effort to Lesson Air Rage
Aired July 06, 2001 - 11:09 ET
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
STEPHEN FRAZIER, CNN ANCHOR: Most of us have heard of road rage, but when customers attack airline employees, it's called air rage. Whether it happens at the ticket gate or at the actual airline gate or in the air, the effects can be brutal. Today, flight attendants are giving the government a report card on how it is handling the problem.
CNN's Elaine Quijano joins us now from National Airport in Washington, where the flight attendants have been talking to reporters -- and Elaine, I'm sure you heard some of those very dramatic accounts of episodes in the air.
ELAINE QUIJANO, CNN CORRESPONDENT: True horror stories, Stephen.
Well, the Association of Flight Attendants is trying to draw attention to a problem that they say public needs to pay more attention to, air rage. Every year there are an estimated 4,000 cases of air rage in the U.S., about 300 of those cases serious enough to warrant reports to the FAA.
Well, today the flight attendants issued their report card giving FAA, the airlines and the Department of Justice failing grades in dealing with the problem of air rage. Specifically they want the airlines to adopt clearer policies regarding the problem and to give employees more comprehensive training when it comes to dealing with unruly passengers. They also want to see the airlines take more responsibility for air rage incidents. They also looked at the Department of Justice and FAA, saying the FAA is not doing enough to protect the safety of crew and passengers.
(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)
PATRICIA FRIEND, INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT, ASSOCIATION OF ATTENDANTS: Our U.S. airlines have failed to promote cabin safety over their profits. They have failed to adopt training guidelines issued by the FAA. They've failed to take the full responsibility for these air rage incidents. And they've failed to support workers who are victims of air rage. The FAA has failed to require all airlines to report every incident of air rage.
(END VIDEO CLIP)
QUIJANO: Now on the other side of the issue, an airline industry spokesman told me yesterday that most airlines do have written policies in place and that most airlines do have a zero tolerance policy when it comes to the issue of air rage. At the same time, however, he says when you look at the numbers about 300 or so serious cases out of the millions of passengers who fly every year. In his words the problem is not "an epidemic yet" -- Stephen, back to you.
FRAZIER: Still some very passionate accounts. You saw one flight attendant there, Elaine, almost coming to tears as she related what had happened to her.
QUIJANO: And that's something that you will hear these flight attendants say, that they face these sort of situations on a daily basis, that most people might not realize just the amount of pressure and stress that these flight attendants are under. We often hear about the complaints of passengers. We don't often hear from flight attendants. That is their purpose in coming out today, to try and get that attention that they say this issue so greatly deserves -- Stephen?
FRAZIER: From Reagan National Airport in Washington, Elaine Quijano. Elaine, thank you very much.
DARYN KAGAN, CNN ANCHOR: Meanwhile, on the ground, airline employees have access to police, emergency crews and, of course, space when dealing with violent passengers. But what about crews who are 30,000 feet up in the air confronted with these cases of air rage? More and more flight attendants are preparing for these explosive situations in ways that could surprise you.
Here's CNN's Chris Wolfe.
(BEGIN VIDEOTAPE)
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Hey, come sit over here with me.
RENEE SHEFFER, FLIGHT ATTENDANT: Sir, please let go of me.
CHRIS WOLFE, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice over): Renee Sheffer is not a martial arts expert or law enforcement officer; she's a flight attendant.
SHEFFER: I am there to save lives, and I don't want my life taken by an irate passenger.
WOLFE: Sheffer is dealing with air rage, passengers becoming violent in the sky.
In 1998, an enraged man kicked, punched and threw Renee down the aisle during a cross-country flight. Her injuries, some shown here, put her out of work for two years. Now Sheffer's back, armed with physical self-defense training she pursued on her own. It's called compliance direction takedown, or CDT.
TOM PATIRE, CDT FOUNDER: So when I do this, I bring him to me.
Take the body mechanics, motor units, and we temporarily just shut them down, and when you let him go, the perfect person is perfectly fine. WOLFE (on camera): Tom Patire has trained about 50 flight attendants with the CDT program, and about 55 more have signed up for the course. They are learning about it through the Internet and word of mouth.
PATIRE: The airlines haven't said no to training, quite honestly. They haven't said yes to it either.
WOLFE (voice-over): But many carriers are saying yes to different kinds of verbal training. One program is called verbal judo. Frontier Airlines allowed us to take a look.
UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I'm sorry, I need you to be seated.
WOLFE: Catch phrases, body language, and composure -- the goal is to diffuse simmering situations before they flare up to physical contact.
LEE FJELSTAD, VERBAL JUDO INSTITUTE: We're teaching people to deflect. If people are angry, simply look at them and say, I understand you are upset, and I can appreciate that -- I can even emphasize with it -- however...
WOLFE: Clients include Delta, US Airways and Qantas. Meanwhile, flight attendants like Renee Sheffer will seek their own training.
SHEFFER: Stop! Stop! Have a seat, sir.
UNIDENTIFIED MALE: Let them fight. Serves you right.
SHEFFER: Put your seat belts on.
WOLFE: Chris Wolfe, CNN.
(END VIDEOTAPE)
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