TikTok of Qantas passenger sparks debate about cabin crew authority

The man is filmed arguing aggressively with the cabin crew before takeoff. Photo / TikTok

A video of an aggressive passenger has gone viral on TikTok and spread debate around cabin crew authority on flights.

The video, which was posted to Nine News' TikTok channel, shows a fully loaded Qantas plane in Bali. In it, a male passenger can be heard repeatedly telling the flight crew manager "get out of my face."

After a break in the clip, the man is shown telling the manager she is "being rude and disrespectful".

The video has received more than 6.2 million views.

Prior to the confrontation, the husband claimed his family was not allowed to bring a stroller on board for their child, which allegedly left the mother distressed and in tears.

"I'm telling you they were being rude and it's f***ing disgusting," he said.

"They made her cry and she's crying because they were being rude to her with a newborn baby. Tell them to come apologise, right now."

The manager refused to meet the request. "We're not taking you," she said. The man then asked for the police.

"We're not leaving. Bring the police here," he said.

At one point, the manager is recorded saying "it's my cabin," to which the passenger replies "it's not your plane." The disagreement sparked debate online as to who was in the right.

However, Teri O'Toole the Federal Secretary of the Flight Attendants' Association of Australia said there was no question.

"The cabin crew are in command," she told Traveller. "In an aircraft the order is captain, first officer, second officer and cabin crew. That's a Civil Aviation Safety Authority (CASA) regulation."

According to O'Toole, the call to remove the passengers was fair.

"If there's someone on board who is acting like that on the ground you would never take off with them on board," she said.

CASA rules state passengers cannot "behave in a disorderly, unruly or disruptive manner" or "use language or behaviour that is threatening, abusive or insulting; behave in an offensive or disorderly way, including physical assault, verbal abuse or sexual harassment".

Following these rules is part of the condition of carriage.

Qantas isn't the only airline that faces challenging passengers.

In the US, the Federal Aviation Administration received almost 2000 incident reports relating to unruly passengers in the first nine months of 2022. This is 10 times the number reported during pre-pandemic years.

Fortunately, incidents in Australia and New Zealand are fewer and less aggressive. Few cases in Australia have resulted in passengers being forced off the aircraft, O’Toole said.