Incident sheds light on inflight threats
In the wake of an onboard incident in which flight attendants and bystanders acted swiftly to deal with alleged sexual harassment, Canada’s two biggest airlines say its crews are trained to handle passengers who pose a threat — though one expert warns that airline policy and behaviour are two different matters.
On Monday, Toronto Star journalist Joanna Chiu took to Twitter to recount an experience on a recent flight on which she overheard a man who appeared to be in his late 30s ask a teenage girl for a “dirty” photo.
Chiu, the Star’s Vancouver bureau chief, said she and other travellers intervened, informing the flight crew who had the man move after some resistance.
The post, which did not identify the airline, prompted hundreds of responses highlighting the harassment and aggression women often endure while travelling, and how bystanders and flight crew can play a critical role in helping victims.
WestJet Airlines Ltd. said flight crews have a “duty to assess, refuse or move anyone who is exhibiting signs of not being fit to fly or is perceived to be posing a risk to the safety and well-being of our guests and crew.” Crews have the authority to remove a guest from the flight at the next touchdown and request authorities on the ground. Air Canada declined to detail its training procedures “in order to protect the effectiveness of using them,” but said it has a range of protocols to handle safety concerns.
Julie Roberts, who heads the airline division of 15,000 flight attendants at the Canadian Union of Public Employees, says a flight manual at Air Transat, where she works, lists four levels of interference, with response options that range from re-seating to separation techniques.
On board is a restraining kit that includes handcuffs, an upper-body seat belt and even a “spitting mask,” she said.
“If the behaviour doesn’t stop ... I would get the pilot to make sure the RCMP is waiting,” said Roberts.
Subtler interactions, including inappropriate remarks or touching, may go unnoticed.
“It could use some more attention ... Harassment policies within most airlines are pretty outdated,” Roberts said, adding that passenger vigilance is key.
Angela Marie MacDougall, executive director of the Battered Women’s Support Services non-profit in Vancouver, said air travel can open the hatch to “men who want to assert their dominance.”
“You’re in such close proximity in those airline seats and there’s this extraordinary amount of physical intimacy,” she said.