Unruly flyers face law crackdown

New Zealand Flight Attendants and Related Services Association secretary Peter Bentley said problem passengers were not such a big issue in this part of the world.

Airlines claim legal measures to deal with violent passengers outdated, jeopardising safety and call for revamp.

Airlines want new international laws to cover unruly passenger behaviour - such as the case where Air New Zealand cabin crew were attacked on a flight to Bali.

An International Air Transport Association survey found that in a four-year period to 2011 there were 15,000 cases reported. It can cost airlines between $12,000 and $250,000 to disembark or deliver unruly passengers.

In a paper to back a push for changes to international rules, the association says many other incidents probably go unreported.

"The problem is that in the contained, stressful environment of a commercial aircraft in flight, the type of behaviour which might be tolerable in the street takes on a whole different nature."

Member airlines say they are concerned about the safety and security issues this creates and the International Civil Aviation Organisation (ICAO) will meet in March to update rules following IATA lobbying.

The association says the 1963 Tokyo convention is applicable to "crimes and other unlawful acts on board aircraft in international carriage," but is primarily aimed at dealing with hijackings which are now covered by another treaty.

"We believe it is time to revise it to close some gaps and give states the tools to deter and punish unruly behaviour and give airlines more clarity of when and how they can act."

The Tokyo convention grants jurisdiction over offences to the state of registration of the aircraft in question but this is complicated when airlines have to unload passengers in different countries.

The state where the aircraft is registered will not necessarily be the state of the aircraft operator such as when an aircraft is leased. In 1980 airlines leased 3 per cent of all aircraft and owned 97 per cent, but by 2012, airlines leased about 40 per cent of all planes and this is predicted to reach 50 per cent leased by 2015.

The association also wanted rules over immunity for airlines and their crew clarified. In some cases they have to restrain passengers using plastic handcuffs.

"Immunity for the airline and its employees is critical if crews are to have the confidence to deal with any challenge to safety and security aboard an aircraft."

New Zealand Flight Attendants and Related Services Association secretary Peter Bentley said problem passengers were not such a big issue in this part of the world but any incident was a concern. The attack on two Air New Zealand staff on the Bali flight was extreme and since 9/11 airlines and passengers were generally less tolerant of bad behaviour on planes.

He said problems were often caused when travellers ignored the one-to-three ratio; one drink in the air had the same affect as three on the ground.

Mile high fight club

*Last year a Dunedin woman bit one flight attendant and kicked another forcibly in the testicles during a drunken rampage on an Air New Zealand flight to Bali with her partner.

*Last December two passengers attacked a flight attendant after being refused the use of a business class toilet on a flight from Krasnoyarsk to Moscow. The plane was forced to make an emergency landing and the flight attendant was hospitalised.

*Last year the South China Morning Post reported violent attacks on cabin crew during flights between Hong Kong and the mainland were becoming so common they often go unreported. In one case a physical and verbal attack on a flight attendant was cheered by others on board frustrated by a six-hour tarmac delay.

*In March 2012 a woman attacked crew members on a flight from North Carolina to Florida. She kicked and spat on the female flight attendant who refused to serve her alcohol and also kicked a male flight attendant in the groin before being restrained with hand ties.