"passenger's anger outlet"
On the night of August 1 at San Juan Airport in Puerto Rico, passengers stranded by a Spirit Airlines cancellation became chaotic and out of control. They banged on doors and yelled at staff, even police had to block off the cabin to shield the airline staff. A flight attendant said they had to rush across the jet bridge to a security office on the runway, where about 35 Spirit employees had to change out of their uniforms to ensure safety.
Air travelers have faced an unusually high number of flight disruptions this summer due to massive staffing shortages, bad weather, and technical issues. Nearly a quarter of U.S. passenger planes were delayed between June and mid-August, with 4% of flights canceled in the first half of August, according to data from Flight Aware, a flight-tracking service. Spirit alone canceled nearly 2,500 flights between August 1 and August 15.
Flight attendants across the country say they are struggling to cope not only with these lengthy delays, but also with an increase in aggressive passenger behavior. Nearly 4,000 unruly passenger incidents were reported to the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2021, a number that has been described as “a rapid and significant increase.”
Most of these reports involve flight attendants demanding that masks be worn properly by a wide range of passengers, from the careless to the belligerent, sometimes even verbally or physically abusing flight attendants. Images and videos of fights and insults on planes have now become a familiar topic on social media.
An American Airlines flight attendant said she has been called in by law enforcement twice since June after being verbally assaulted — after six years of flying without any such incidents. Both altercations involved mask enforcement. “The really heartbreaking thing is that they didn’t believe me. I didn’t even feel like I was being treated like a human being,” she said.
“Twenty years ago, the fact that a flight attendant stepped onto a plane meant they had complete control,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. “But now, flight attendants are increasingly becoming the ‘passenger’s scapegoat.’”
staff shortages and overtime
In spring 2021, as vaccination rates increased, Covid-19 cases decreased, and restrictions eased, summer travel demand rebounded faster than expected. Many airlines increased flight schedules and added new routes. But this growth was offset by a lack of staff to serve them.
The number of full-time employees at airlines was nearly 14% lower in June 2021 than in March 2020, according to data from the U.S. Bureau of Transportation Statistics. Tens of thousands of flight attendants have been laid off during the pandemic. American Airlines said about 3,300 flight attendants have not yet returned from leave.
“A lot of people were laid off so quickly after the decision to extend their leave, take early retirement, and now the airlines are struggling to meet the travel needs of passengers,” said Paul Hartshorn, a flight attendant and spokesman for the Association of Professional Flight Attendants.
Pilot shortages, insufficient gate staff, lack of baggage handlers and delivery drivers can all cause a flight to go wrong. When a cabin is understaffed, airlines have to rely on reserve flight attendants. This summer, airlines have increased the number of reserve flight attendants to the maximum. However, when these reserves are not enough, regular flight attendants can suddenly be forced to work longer hours than expected, which is happening more and more often, putting them under even more pressure.
Jacqueline Petzel, a reserve flight attendant for American Airlines, said that during the first week of August, she was repeatedly woken up at 2 a.m. with only two hours to get to the airport, then worked 15 hours straight. She said she had at least 10 hours of hotel rest between shifts, during which time she had to prepare dinner, shower, call her family, relax, sleep, eat breakfast and get ready for the next shift.
“It’s hard to stay awake when you have to wake up that early, and it’s a long flight,” said Petzel, who sometimes slept in without changing her uniform after 15 hours of flying.
Another flight attendant working with United Airlines said she had to work with red eyes during a four-day trip in July.
Flight attendants are assigned a maximum number of hours to work, although many say scheduling departments increasingly pressure them to accept longer shifts. When a flight attendant exceeds the maximum number of hours, it can even be considered “illegal.”
Responding to this issue, Whitney Zastrow, a spokeswoman for American Airlines, said: "We have been taking steps to improve the quality of work of flight attendants, including working closely with hotel and limo partners to provide transportation."
...No one said anything
Many flight attendants say they fear being penalized for taking time off, especially during this time. Some airlines have attendance-based policies, which award a point for unplanned absences (like illness). Too many points can lead to an investigation or even termination. JetBlue warned crew members that they would receive double attendance points for unscheduled absences on the weekend of July 23 through September 12.
A JetBlue flight attendant said he worked more than 17 hours per shift last month and was given only a minimum of eight hours of rest. He considered calling in sick several times but was worried that his attendance record would be too high and he would have to terminate his contract.
Normally, Southwest Airlines would let flight attendants call in sick without a doctor’s note. But now, the airline has instituted an “emergency sick call procedure,” requiring employees to verify their illness with the airline’s doctor. This has left flight attendants feeling frustrated and “wasted time and effort” just to get a day off.
Flight attendants said they felt uncomfortable seeing airline doctors, especially when it came to addressing mental health issues. “Our mental health has never been affected more than it is right now,” said a 30-year-old Southwest flight attendant. “You can’t even call in sick if you’re severely depressed or anxious. It’s still not an issue for them.”
