ABSTRACT
Unruly passengers in aircraft are not always habitual natural undesirables and convicts; it is generally thought that the majority of incidents take place in the first class cabin.3 The growth rate of the problem is alarming, and one study suggests that an estimate taken recently reflects an increase of 400 per cent since 1995.4 A further
intriguing fact is that there have been instances where passengers who, for all purposes, are rational respectable persons, have blown up in the face of a mere trifle such as the refusal from the airline to upgrade the passenger to first class. Offensive conduct on board aircraft is not unlike ‘road rage’, where a respectable person, driving a vehicle on a highway, could react on the spur of the moment with violence. On board an aircraft, as in a motor vehicle, people have to react to situations in a confined space. As Lee Fjelstad analysed: ‘The passengers are out of touch with their businesses, their normal surroundings. They are out of sync, there is nothing comfortable around them. They are sitting next to people they don’t know or don’t like, with habits they may not approve of.’5
