=20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- This article was sent to you by someone who found it on SF Gate. The original article can be found on SFGate.com here: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=3D/news/archive/2003/01/10/f= inancial0907EST0051.DTL ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Friday, January 10, 2003 (AP) The new face of air rage BROOKS BARNES, The Wall Street Journal (01-10) 06:07 PST (AP) -- J'Amy Owens was expecting a quiet flight home to Seattle when she sudden= ly heard a commotion. But it wasn't an unruly passenger -- it was a flight attendant. According to Ms. Owens, the attendant started berating a man across the aisle. Pretty soon she was making a scene, even shouting at the confused passenger. His mistake: leaving a beeping cellphone in the overhead bin. "I about jumped out of my skin," says Ms. Owens, a retail consultant. "I= 'm thinking the guy's going to be duct-taped to his seat." In case you hadn't noticed, there's a new kind of air rage out there -- but it's the crew, not the passengers, who seem to be losing their cool. Stressed out by layoffs, extra security duties and now two big airline bankruptcies, pilots and flight attendants may have reached their boiling point. While no one keeps hard numbers on angry outbursts aloft, in a first-of-its-kind survey American Express found that 55 percent of fliers have seen a "noticeable decline" in cabin service, and one big flight attendants' union just hired a psychologist to study job stress. Even the airlines acknowledge they've got a frazzled work force. "As human beings we can only take so much," a United spokesman says. Of course, most flight attendants still do their jobs without blowing their stacks. But the past few months have brought a host of new pressures, from pay cuts big and small (Northwest just trimmed health benefits) to a 20 percent reduction in the number of attendants on some flights. The list of 9/11-related security duties keeps growing, too. "A lot of us are in a terrible mood before we even set foot on the plane," says Glenda Talley, a US Airways flight attendant who just took a pay cut. How bad is it? In one widely reported case, an American pilot went so far as to throw a balky steward off the plane. According to an airline spokesman, the attendant started "exhibiting rude behavior" so badly the pilot had to make an emergency stop in Dallas. (Both the airline and the flight attendants' union declined to comment further.) In another case, Josh Holdeman says he couldn't believe it when a stewardess turned him down for pretzels -- and told him to watch his waistline. "I'm still furious," says the New York art expert, adding he works out three times a week. (The airline, which happened to be American, says his experience was "very unfortunate.") It wasn't all that long ago that flight crews struggled to cope with row= dy passengers, whose alcohol-fueled antics made "air rage" an everyday term. In one particularly violent incident back in 2000, a passenger died while being restrained during an air-rage outbreak on a Southwest flight. More often, flight attendants found themselves coping with disorderly fliers, like the investment banker who defecated on a service cart after being denied another drink. Now the gripes are coming from the passengers, though flight attendants say a lot of what seems like rude behavior isn't their fault. For some time now, under new federal rules, flight attendants have been required to step up scrutiny of passengers for security risks while smiling and serving drinks. With pilots locked in the cockpit, they can't count on extra help to calm unhappy fliers either. "We would just grin and bear a lot of bad behavior," says Pat Friend, president of the Association of Flight Attendants. Now, "we treat even the most minor disturbance as a level-one threat." Still, even Ms. Friend concedes that increasingly testy treatment of passengers is an "issue that needs to be addressed." Some numbers suggest the problem is getting worse. Gripes specifically about flight attendants are up about 12 percent among big U.S. airlines in just six months, according to PlanetFeedback, a consumer-complaint service, while airline complaints overall are up about 9 percent. And though the government's numbers show formal protests against airlines were down for much of 2002, that decline has tapered off sharply during the past few months. The Department of Transportation, which compiles those statistics, says it believes incidents are underreported, in part because many travelers still don't know how or where to file complaints. Lisa Wallis, of Portland, Ore., says she was "afraid to move a muscle" on an Alaska Airlines flight to Los Angeles this fall after a flight attendant made a harsh announcement over the intercom. "Basically, people," she recalls the steward saying, "sit down, shut up, eyes forward -- and never forget that we are in control." ("Not everybody on every flight can have the same sense of humor," an Alaska spokesman says.) Even flying in first class, normally a haven with polite crew members, hasn't helped. Instead of pampering her, Ms. Wallis says, a harried-looking flight attendant turned down her drink order, then spent the flight napping in an empty seat -- with slippers on. "I just sat there in disbelief," says the sportswear-chain manager. "For $1,800, I at least expected her to stay awake the whole time." Airlines say such incidents remain extremely isolated, given the thousan= ds of daily flights. But they also acknowledge they've either witnessed a surge of sign-ups for stress-management programs -- or have taken new measures to reduce stress in the air. "Certainly there's more stress to the job lately and that takes a toll," says Kristi Tucker, a spokeswoman for Delta Air Lines, which expects to furlough up to 1,000 flight attendants in the coming months. The union for United and US Airways has commissioned its own "coping study," while American's union, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants, hired Loyola College psychologist Jeffrey Lating to study members. Among the questions he's asking: "Do you feel the urge to withdraw from people?" Flight attendants say the flying public isn't exactly making their job easier. "It didn't take long after Sept. 11 for people to start acting like complete idiots again," says Rene Foss, a flight attendant who recently wrote a book titled "Around the World in a Bad Mood." She says that after hearing the warning, people still try to light up in the lavatory. And less egregious annoyances -- "the `fasten seat-belt' sign applies to everyone but me" -- wear down stressed-out employees, Ms. Foss says, leading to altercations. Many analysts say the bad mood in the sky will get better only when travelers start returning and airlines start posting profits. But even before all the industry's woes, attendants complained their pay was too low for "friendly" service -- with some of the jobs starting at $15,000 and even veterans rarely making more than $50,000. And the responsibilities of the haggard flight attendants only go up, forcing at least some to give up before they lose their cool. That includes Kevin Gaspari, a steward who joined US Airways in 1987 and fondly remembers the days of free Europe trips and tranquil cabins. A few months ago he found himself at a new training course, learning how to brandish a coffee pot as a weapon and "elbow" potential terrorists to the floor. "I need a break," says Mr. Gaspari, who's now taking a voluntary three-year furlough. "A lot of us just didn't sign up for this." What's an Airline to Do? With air travel so stressful for passengers and flight attendants alike, we decided to ask everyone from frequent fliers to airline executives for ideas to make things better. Some suggestions were obvious, such as cutting back on carry-ons, but we were surprised by others (should airlines sell their seats like a four-course dinner?). Here are eight intriguing -- and controversial -- proposals. 1. TOSS THE FOOD CARTS. We're amazed it hasn't happened already. Even though having passengers grab "snack pack" food boxes on the jetway while boarding is easier, most airlines continue to dish up mediocre meals on trays -- that is, if they serve food at all. This is one change that airlines can afford: When American instituted "bistro service" on short flights seven years ago, it helped cut food-service costs nearly 8 percent in just three months. 2. BETTER SEAT, BIGGER PRICE. Broadway theaters charge more for a prime seat, so why can't the airlines offer travelers some a la carte seating options? Sure, there's first class, but plenty of travelers would pay extra -- maybe 10 percent more -- to sit in the front rows or "bulkhead" seats and skip the free drinks and extra service. "For business travelers, there's no question that an aisle seat is more valuable," says airline consultant Thom Nulty. 3. TURN ON THE TUBE. Putting a TV set at every seat sounds like a no-brainer for keeping passengers relaxed, and indeed, it has won raves for upstart JetBlue. But big airlines have been slow to catch on, saying they can't afford frills these days. How much does it really cost? LiveTV, the company that makes the systems (and happens to be owned by JetBlue), says it's about $1 per passenger. Either way, think how quiet the cabin would get. "Give my kids a TV and they'll stop screaming," says former flight attendant Beth Daniels. 4. KEEP EXPANDING -- EVEN NOW. Everybody knows travel is down, so it mig= ht sound crazy to keep building up the infrastructure of airports and runways. Wrong: Experts estimate that air traffic will surpass pre-9/11 levels by mid-decade. Yet scores of airport projects face delays, such as San Francisco's $3 billion runway expansion and a $6.6 billion project at Chicago's O'Hare. Because airport construction takes years to complete, waiting until business picks up will be too late, says Woodie Woodward, associate administrator at the Federal Aviation Administration. "This is a chance to play catch-up," she says. 5. GET PILOTS TALKING. When you're rattling around in bumpy weather, it's nice to get an update from the cockpit -- but passengers usually hear more about the scenery. Indeed, while airlines say they encourage pilots to give updates, Northwest, America West and other big carriers don't actually require it. Pilots aren't fans of this, though, and say sometimes they're too busy to talk. 6. SECURITY FAST LANES. After 9/11, there was a lot of talk about "trust= ed traveler" programs to whisk business travelers through the added security. The idea: a combination of background checks and high-tech scanners to vet frequent fliers faster. It's not as futuristic as you might think -- Dallas just installed a handful of face scanners last month in a test (though they're not cheap at $25,000 each). "I'm not asking to bypass security," says former FAA chief Allan McArtor, now a senior Airbus executive. "I'm just asking to get over in the fast lane." 7. LESS BOOZE. As the Association of Flight Attendants president Pat Friend says, "sobering up the cabin" would go a long way to easing tensions. One idea: Raise drink prices to rein in demand. (By some estimates, alcohol figures in three-quarters of all air-rage incidents -- and some big airlines serve more than four million drinks a year.) Some airlines are doing exactly that: Delta now charges for alcohol on international business-class flights, while United just raised coach cocktails $1. 8. MORE GATEKEEPERS. There's a new line at the airport. Most of the attention goes to the crowds at security, but the wait at the gate can be just as annoying. Between extra ID checks and pulling travelers aside for special screening, boarding the plane means lining up one more time, a cattle call that sets the mood for the entire flight. Airlines may be strapped, but when it comes to the gate, face it: You need more people. =20 ---------------------------------------------------------------------- Copyright 2003 AP