To Captain James Bigglesworth and others who have reiterated his point, that there will never be an acceptable excuse for the intimidation or assaulting of crew or other passengers- Here, here!
These absolute plebs who conduct themselves in such a manner, spoil flights for hundreds of other passengers and degrade the quality of life in the workplace for aircrew around the world. Only a complete and utter imbecile would expect that this kind of behaviour could somehow remedy poor service or some other grievence!
The punishment should be swift, clear and effective and I quite agree with those of you who have suggested that (in extreme cases) they be banned from airline travel for life. This sends a clear, unambiguous message that their conduct will never be tolerated.
However, to exact justice and balance frivolous claims of "air rage", there needs to be an internationally recognized system in place, to judge individuals accused of breaching the peace, to preclude passengers ,and perhaps crew themselves, of being unfairly accused of misconduct.
Perhaps ICAO could legislate and administrate such a system?
[ 01 September 2001: Message edited by: CAVU ]