This is how staff deal with aggressive passengers

Frankfurt It is attacks like these that alarm employee representatives: At the beginning of the year, a passenger hit a train attendant on a regional train from Frankfurt to Fulda after she had pointed out the obligation to wear a mask. “A single attack is already one attack too many,” says a resolution that the railway workers’ union EVG and Verdi drafted a few days ago.

Mandatory masks, checking the vaccination status, frustrated passengers and passengers – this is a challenge for the driving and flying personnel. “The atmosphere on board has changed. We have to explain and educate more than we did before the pandemic,” says Klaus Rombach, describing the situation.

Since 2012 he has been working in the cabin at Lufthansa, in the Airbus A320 and the Boeing 747. Since 2016 he has been the cabin manager on short-haul routes, known as the purser. The good news: “Some situations rarely arise that we didn’t expect,” says Rombach.

This is confirmed by Umut Özel. The 29-year-old is the train manager in long-distance transport at Deutsche Bahn. Even though reports of passengers losing control have increased in recent weeks, almost all passengers have complied with the mask requirement. “But of course there are always a few who find it difficult,” says Özel, who lives in Hanover with his wife, who is currently on parental leave.

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According to a spokeswoman for Deutsche Bahn, employees were attacked around 2,000 times on duty last year – about as many as in 2020. That is more than in 2018 (1,344 incidents) and 2019 (1,649 incidents). If you also take into account that significantly fewer people got on the train in 2020 and 2021 because of the pandemic, the trend is clearly upwards.

There are no comparable figures for aviation in this country. However, the situation in the USA is alarming. There, 5,981 incidents involving “passengers who are difficult to control” were reported to the FAA last year. Before the start of the pandemic, there were around 150 processes a year.

A woman even knocked out two of a flight attendant’s teeth on a low-cost Southwest flight. The FAA is now taking strict action against such passengers. You could be fined up to $37,000. The highest amount ever paid by a passenger was $25,000.

Train conductor in the ICE

Enforcing the applicable hygiene measures is a challenge for the driving staff of the state-owned company.

(Photo: Deutsche Bahn AG)

If there is a risk of conflict on the train or plane, psychological skills are required. “In many cases it turns out that something went wrong earlier in the travel chain, for example at the airport or on arrival,” says cabin manager Rombach: “Some passengers’ nerves are on edge and the tone can get louder at times. But we can usually defuse such situations on board quite quickly.”

Uniform helps in some cases

The most important thing is communication. “We try to understand the passenger’s situation, explain to him why the crew is acting in this way and make it clear to him what the consequences can be if he continues to violate the rules,” Rombach describes the procedure.

But sometimes the chemistry between staff and customer is not right, or the employee is having a bad day himself. Then it could help “if someone else from the team takes on a difficult case. Maybe the passenger doesn’t get along with my style, or there are other animosities,” says Özel.

Rombach sometimes makes it clear to passengers that as a purser he is also head of the cabin. “Then the passenger is often more insightful.” The effect of the uniform should not be underestimated: “It protects me in a certain way because at that moment I visibly represent the airline on board.” A uniform creates strength and respect, confirms Özel.

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Creativity is required when it comes to communication. “I always point out that masks are compulsory and add with a wink that I would personally recommend an FFP2 mask and that it is best not to use it as an eye patch.”

Looser announcements could help to build trust in the passengers before the flight, says Rombach. “For example, I sometimes walk down the aisle and say to one or the other: Your nose clothing has slipped.” Nevertheless, of course, everything has to be in terms of safety be correct in terms of content.

The on-board personnel learn how de-escalation can work in training courses. Special seminars are held once a year. “Among other things, we practice identifying passengers early on who are already conspicuous when boarding, for example, and discussing how to proceed with the crew,” says Rombach, describing one of the lessons. You also learn how to answer customer questions correctly in order to defuse critical situations at an early stage,” explains Özel.

But it doesn’t always work without the police. Rombach recalls a case a few months ago. On a short-haul flight, two passengers who did not want to wear their masks and were also under the influence of alcohol had to be taken away by the police after landing.

“When I saw the next day before the return flight that passengers were again not wearing their masks correctly, I knew that I had to act,” he says. “I didn’t want to experience such a situation again, also to protect the other passengers and the crew.”

In an emergency, the police will be called

A formal but clear on-board announcement with reference to the obligation to wear a mask and the possible consequences of not wearing it helped to convey to the passengers the seriousness of certain rules and to take the pressure off their colleagues at the beginning. “Because they could refer to my clear speech in the event of a discussion,” says Rombach.

Özel can also rely on help from third parties. “The colleagues in the on-board restaurant are also trained. We support each other.” Nevertheless, the experienced train manager is happy that he can always catch his breath: “Unlike our colleagues in aviation, we can put our noses in the fresh air at the next stop and take a deep breath. “

However, Özel and Rombach have not lost the fun they have in their job. “The positive experiences outweigh the negative ones, and the job is still fun,” says Rombach. Nothing has changed in the enthusiasm for his work, according to Özel: “Otherwise I would no longer be in this industry. My wife is also a train attendant.”

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