Hotmail
Messenger
My MSN
MSN Directory
How airports deal with problem passengers
Procedures and training, identifying unusual behavior, security and more
 | In tense situations, actions by airports and airlines to provide customer-oriented service can douse the flames of confrontation and prevent disruptive passengers from causing incidents. |
Paul Beaty / AP Photo |
Every experienced traveler has a story about disruptive passengers, as do most front-line airport staff, making them almost the stuff of legend — and an ongoing challenge for the air transport industry.
The term ‘air rage’ was first used in the late 1990s to describe the increasing number of incidents involving unruly passengers on flights. Sadly, it is still a familiar phrase today, as a number of men and women continue to behave badly onboard aircraft.
But while many of the more headline-grabbing incidents have occurred in the air, there is no shortage of horror stories on the ground, reports Routes News.
Recently a passenger transiting Nuremberg Airport in Germany nearly died after drinking a bottle of vodka at a security checkpoint rather than surrendering it under the new liquids and gels (LAGs) rules. Police and medical staff were forced to intervene and the man was hospitalized.
Even minor disruptions can potentially be costly. In a situation where a security checkpoint is temporarily closed down, lines can quickly build, leading to service and operational issues. In more extreme scenarios entire terminals are evacuated or the airfield gets locked down.
Craig Bradbrook, director of security and facilitation for the Airports Council International (ACI), says the consequences depend on the circumstances. Although a problem caused by a single passenger can normally be contained fairly swiftly, things can easily escalate if numbers of passengers are involved.
“There have been incidents where an aircraft has developed a technical problem prior to push back, resulting in the cancellation of the flight, and the passengers have refused to disembark until they have negotiated compensation terms with the airline,” said Bradbrook.
“Similarly, there have been ‘sit-in’ protests in airport lounges of disgruntled passengers. Flights may be delayed if a problem passenger is denied boarding at the last moment and their baggage has to be off-loaded.”
Who should take responsibility?
The challenge starts with identifying who should take responsibility for an incident. David Herriman, head of safety management at Düsseldorf Airport — which reported just five incidents in 2007 against a total passenger throughput of 17.8 million — says problem passengers on the ground are an issue for both airlines and airports.
“Both are interested in avoiding difficulties on the ground as well as in the air,” said Herriman. “And in Düsseldorf, the airlines, the airport, the police and other parties involved work together very closely. For example, we have developed a common procedure to inform the stakeholders about a problem passenger: a standardized reporting channel.”
ACI’s Bradbrook believes every case has to be judged individually. “If, for example, the problem passenger is disgruntled about being off-loaded or bumped off a flight, it is technically a contractual dispute between the airline and passenger,” he said.
“The airport and the police would not normally get involved, provided that there is no 'breach of the peace.' However, if the passenger becomes disorderly, then police would get involved to maintain order and the airport duty staff would also probably get involved to ensure that this incident did not impact on other terminal operations,” said Bradbrook.
The muddied waters of responsibility are no surprise, given they reflect a bewildering array of possible causes for the disruption. These range from the ever-present threat of terrorism to the rather more mundane pangs of nicotine withdrawal.
Other factors at play include drunkenness, medical conditions and travel-related stress. Is a passenger appearing to be ‘disruptive’ simply one unfamiliar with the airport environment, unsure of security requirements, unaware of gate locations and oblivious to boarding protocol?
Perhaps they are simply jet-lagged. One person’s problem passenger may be another’s nervous flyer.
Procedures and training for dealing with problems
Given such diversity, it is difficult to define a comprehensive system for dealing with the problem. “From my experience, airports, security organizations, airlines and police do have their own procedures for dealing with such incidents,” said Bradbrook.
“There is close co-operation between the stakeholders at major airports in managing the response to 'problem' passengers and I believe that the procedures are fairly standard from one airport to another," he said. "The police do train with the airport, airline front-line staff and supervisors to practice their response to a variety of security and safety incidents.”
This raises the bigger issue of the quality of the training provided to staff, which in turn, impacts competence in implementing agreed procedures. ACI’s security chief believes one stone that should not be left unturned is training in identifying potential problems before they have the chance to crystallize.
“We see value in airports and airlines training staff to recognize behaviors,” he said. “If one works in an airport terminal every day, one can recognize what behavior is normal and what is not. Staff should be trained to take action in circumstances where they observe someone behaving abnormally.”
Click for related content |
Although the action may be very simple — perhaps just notifying security or police and keeping the person under observation until enforcement officials arrive — even these small steps need to be drilled home.
“By nature, many people do not like confrontation or do not like to get involved in things which are not directly their business,” said Bradbrook. “But that is the message that we need to get across to all airport and airline staff — security is everybody's business.”
Security is also big business these days and a number of ideas, machines and improved training methods are helping to make the disruptive-passenger problem less of an issue.
Identifying unusual behavior patterns
Identifying unusual behavior patterns is certainly one security element that’s proving very effective at the Houston Airport System (HAS), particularly in mitigating ‘minor’ disturbances, according to Frank Haley, interim deputy director for public safety and technology.
Haley recalls an officer correctly identifying a distressed passenger before she became too much of a problem. “It saved a lot of time and hassle for the other passengers,” he claimed. “There have also been plenty of instances of people needing medical assistance.”
Such training is currently offered by a limited number of specialized firms but isn’t overly time-consuming. Around 40 hours training will give staff the basic skills and there are constant reinforcement exercises after that.
|
Dealing with disruption at Houston also has a technical side. George Bush Intercontinental (IAH) is testing a breach containment system, deployed using closed circuit television (CCTV).
Passengers suspected of causing a problem can be tracked and their behavior scrutinized using video analytics. For example, if a security checkpoint is breached the program can be launched over the CCTV network and used to track and help contain the individual. IAH is the first gateway in the U.S. to use the software as a commercial application.
“This is about business continuity, because otherwise a breach would cause checkpoints and aircraft operations to shut down,” Haley emphasized. “That causes delays and could mean passengers missing connecting flights. If we use it just once it will probably pay for itself.”
- Discuss Story On Newsvine
- Rate Story:
View popularLowHigh - Instant Message
MORE FROM NEWS |
 News Section Front |
| Add News headlines to your news reader: |