I have been thinking about the incident in which a passenger viciously attacked a flight attendant who had told her to buckle up and put her tray away since the plane had not yet docked at the gate. This was just one of a large number of such attacks that flight attendants have been subjected to in the last year.
I posed the question as to why people exploded in rage like this but did not really answer it. I initially put this phenomenon down to the pent-up frustrations that people have these days because of the confinements caused by the pandemic. But on reflection, I think it runs deeper than that and is a manifestation of class attitudes that is a relic of feudalism
That attacks on flight attendants have increased may be to a basic misconception of what the role of the flight attendant is. Because we see them pushing the drinks cart and handing out snacks, people may see them as being part of the hospitality industry, like waiters and shop assistants, people who are there to serve the customers and make them comfortable. Such people’s jobs require them to be servile towards the customer and bite their tongues as much as possible when confronted with obnoxious people. They are expected to cater as much as possible to the whims of the customer.
But that kind of service is not the primary role of flight attendants. It is not their primary job to serve people and make them comfortable. The main responsibility for which they are trained is safety and security. All that stuff they tell us about buckling up, where the flotation devices are and how to use them, what to do in an emergency, the need to our trays away and put the seat backs up, and other safety protocols are their main tasks and, in the event of an actual emergency, they are trained to take decisive action to save lives. Serving the refreshments is part of their secondary duties, when the other tasks are not required
So flight attendants are not going to put up with people violating the safety rules and will insist on compliance. But people who see them like wait staff in restaurants may resent being told what to do by those whom they think are basically serfs. They may react as if a waiter told them what fork to use or that they could could not leave the table. It would be seen as an act of impertinence, that they have no right to tell you what to do.
I am not saying that viewing it this way makes these displays of anger and violence justified. One should not treat any wait staff or shop assistant or indeed anyone at all with anything other than courtesy and respect. But it may explain why flight attendants in particular seem to be experiencing such an increase in violence as people look for targets to vent their frustrations.
But what you set out to do is identify what has changed very recently (maybe the last year or the last several years) and explain why that has led to more violent/aggressive outbursts from passengers, which this doesn’t do.
My impression is that they’ve been regarded in roughly the same way (and almost all women, who’ve also been very deliberately sexualized) more or less since the beginning of commercial passenger aviation when they became a fixture of it. That’s also how they’ve been depicted in movies, TV shows, and so forth. Having a job title like “stewardess” or “hostess” (not so much “flight attendant”) also suggests the same kind of role. The wiki page goes through much of this.
Mano, I’m not convinced that’s the reason.
I first started flying in the mid-1960s and used to fly monthly from the late 1980s -- early 1990s (about 4 years). I can’t remember ever seeing such rabid violence aimed at the flight attendants. Believe it or not, flying used to be very pleasant.
I’ve been thinking about this very topic, and I’m wondering if TFG’s reign of terror has given some people the confidence to let out their inner werewolves. While flying is becoming less enjoyable in every way, most people manage to quietly bear it and not flip out when asked to do something by the flight attendants.
Did you know, back in the 1960s and 1970s, flight attendants (mostly women) were required to wear heavy makeup, short skirts, and high heels…and were portrayed by the airlines as bubble-headed bimbos? (One advertising slogan: “I’m (insert name), FLY ME!” Despite that, people as a whole didn’t attack flight attendants.
I haven’t flown on an airplane since the pre-Homeland Security 1990s. I understand that it’s just more awkward and difficult to do. So, that adds to a passenger’s stress. Then, you have to wear a mask for the entire flight. Some people handle that gracefully (I’m fine with it) but it makes others seriously uncomfortable. So, for some people, another stressor. Finally, you’re stuck in a seat without enough leg room, and limited entertainments. Then, I think people are under more stress generally, due to many pandemic-related things. They might be big or small, but there’s a cumulative effect.
Then a flight attendant, probably a female flight attendant, tells you to behave yourself and observe the safety rules. In our society, many people regard women as a bit less than men, and not deserving of the authority of their job. I think it’s a pile of things that fuel anger and resentment beneath that assessment of the flight attendant as a lesser being. Her instruction just sets the pile on fire.
People who would do things in accordance with what they say went to the captial on 6th Jan or commit mass murders (…with guns…) of people who they kill who are invariably the people that fascists, racists, homo- and trans-phobics, antisemitics, and sexist pigs hate.
The war is already on. Terrorist attacks in this country are already on. TPTB of this country who hate the people of this country offer hopes and prayers because these murderers and insurrectionist traitors are doing what they actually want whether they say out loud like a common FORMER president Trump that they actually want it or not.
Those who would *not* do the things that they say, *they* have rants on airplanes. It is their version of a terrorist attack. Them being arrested is an annointing of seventy novice cable box installers (is that right? Yeah of course, cable TV who wouldn’t want that in heaven otherwise you’d have to do the constant-hosanna-thing. Ugh. I’m sure I’m right). Of course it is happening on airplanes, in the same way that hijacking planes was happening before.
Airplanes make big fake news.
Not sure what it is to be honest. I’m kind of wondering if most of these incidents look like the one in the earlier post or not. That one was sudden and at one end of a flight. Obviously there was some belligerent behavior prior to the video starting or the other passenger would not have felt like creating the video in the first place. The actual attack still looked like a sucker punch though. Among other things those are very difficult to defend against even with a lot of training. The things I think would come up in self defense training like standing back so you have time to react before they reach you feel like they could hamper attempts to de-escalate the encounter.
I rather hope I don’t get to see enough videos like that to form a real opinion on why they occur.
They are being attacked because they are weak.
The attackers are cowards. They aren’t attacking cops, mma fighters, and body builders. They go after store clerks and flight staff.
An industry analyst pointed out some years ago that “The cause of air rage is flying in the economy cabin”, citing the inherent discomfort of the airplane experience in crowded and uncomfortable conditions.
But, while that and Mano’s thought on class strictures are both true, they don’t explain the recent rapid increase. I really think that it’s Trumpiness: permission given to act out one’s emotions violently at any request for consideration for others. The need to assert your privilege, your freedom from the rules, and now you’re allowed and encouraged to do it violently.
These people are so wedded to the delusions they tell themselves of their white privilege that they’re willing to die to maintain them (as in, they won’t wear masks or get vaccinated). That extends to everyone who reminds them of the rules and/or laws.
These people are so wedded to the delusions they tell themselves of their white privilege that they’re willing to die to maintain them
… so long as it dosn’t require real courage. I.e: gangs of proud boys are tough against lone female journalists but run screaming to the hospital when someone shoots one. “Give me liberty or give me minor inconvenience!!!”