Whilst it may be prudent to restrict policies on this forum, I believe it is a good idea to talk about it.
I have been involved in a mock hijack performed by the airport police, which I found very interesting, not too mention frightening, even knowing it wasn't real. It lasted 8 hours.
The courage of the passengers and crew involved in these tragic incidents is beyond belief.
SOP's are what we are trained in, and yes they are what we follow, but they are the basic groundwork with which we operate and must contiue to do so. Each situation calls for a different approach and we must be trained in more aggressive practises in order to do our job. Don't get me wrong, I for one think that any firearms on board could result in misuse, and I am glad that I do not have to make that call. However, I believe that the point being missed is that we are not using the customers themselves.
The reason many are not travelling, in my humble opinion, is simply because the buffer zone they always had, that flight crew and cabin crew could handle ANYTHING, isn't there anymore. Therefore we need to empower our customers and maybe show them a short video on what to do in certain situations, send something with the tickets, make documentaries about it, SOMETHING!!! Give them the opportunity to to have a degree of control in the air. I personally do not think they will be scared away, I think they are more scared of not knowing what to do should a situation arise.
Thinking about all those that lost their lives, I am struck by a report of cabin crew calling their airlines from mobile phones, with the seat numbers of the hijackers.......would I have had the courage?
We HAVE to believe that all the employees and passengers did everything they knew how to, to stop the monsters that did this. Maybe....we ALL need to be taught a bit more.
Thoughts to the victims and families.