Midlands airport workers 'abused monthly' and suffer physical assaults - poll

Flight staff have recounted ‘intimidation’ and ‘very scary’ passengers being abusive in a survey from transport union Unite.

Workers nationally were polled, including those at Birmingham and East Midlands Airport, to reveal over 70 per cent are abused monthly, while 31 per cent of ground staff and 42 per cent of cabin crew have been physically assaulted.

The Aviation Bill currently going through parliament will give the Civil Aviation Authority the power to ban passengers from multiple airlines, but only if the abuse occurs on the plane, as opposed to in the airport.

Unite’s general secretary, Sharon Graham, said: “Abuse towards airport and aviation workers is not 'part of the job', it is a workplace safety issue that affects workers on the ground and in the air and can ultimately put other passengers at risk.

“All too often these workers are being left in harmful positions while doing very difficult jobs.”

The survey got responses from 1,800 staff, including anonymised responses from staff at Birmingham Airport.

One security staff member said: “I’ve had my personal space invaded such as passengers getting up in my face. I’ve had a passenger barge into me knowing full well it would knock me off balance. Intimidation.

“I witnessed my colleague have his badge snatched from his neck and saw another colleague be grabbed by her arms. It happens every day.”

A cabin crew member who spoke to police said: “I have been verbally abused with insults such as ‘c**t’, ‘sl*g’ and ‘fat b**ch’, simply for enforcing basic safety rules.

“And last year I was physically and verbally assaulted by a passenger after asking him to stop smoking. I reported this to the police, but never received any follow-up.”

Another said: “I saw a passenger threatening to kill another passenger and he had to be held back by a crew member. He was very threatening - saying he would find out where we lived.”

One cabin crew member spoke about being bitten and kicked by a passenger, while another spoke of an incident involving the father of a child who was kicking the chair in front.

“He started screaming and threatening to beat the man up. We went over to say he needed to stop but he then got up and started pushing and shoving my colleague.

“I pulled him off but he remained intimidatory for the remainder of the flight. It was very scary as he was a big man.”

Unite have called for a Worker Safety Charter backed by 98 per cent of workers, powers for airports and airlines to coordinate and ban abusive passengers from airports and further safety standards to protect staff as part of its ‘Abuse Doesn’t Fly’ campaign.

Ms Graham added that airports and airlines need to up their game on this.

“They must make the safety of workers their top priority and work with Unite to stamp out workplace abuse once and for all. No worker should ever be put in dangerous situations for simply doing their job.”

Unite’s Oliver Richardson said: “Every aviation worker has the right to work free from abuse, threats, intimidation and violence.

“We need coordinated action against serious or repeat offenders. If both airports and airlines have the legal right to ban disruptive passengers from flying, it would go a long way to ensuring workers are kept safe.”

The survey also revealed almost nine out of ten workers had witnessed a colleague being abused, while over 60 per cent of staff said managerial support and reporting procedures were inadequate.

A spokesperson for East Midlands Airport said: "We are clear that threatening or abusive behaviour towards anyone working at East Midlands Airport is completely unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

“That is why we work closely with our airlines, ground handlers, retailers, the police and trade unions on a number of programmes aimed at preventing and addressing all forms of disruptive and inappropriate behaviour.

“We will continue to work hand-in-hand with all our partners including our recognised trade unions to ensure East Midlands Airport is a welcoming and safe place to work.”

Birmingham Airport declined to comment.