Drunk and Abusive Passenger
I am not Cabin Crew but have just returned from a holiday in Greece courtesy of a well known Holiday Airline.
It was apparent from an early stage that one passenger had over indulged and was not interested in stopping anytime soon. He had on the usual uniform of football shirt, massive gold ear ring and an IQ of a baby Panda.
His behaviour became so bad that the young ladies sat next to him were forced to move.
At this point he got the attention of one of the Cabin Crew by throwing two plastic cups at her as well as swearing at the top of his voice. We all assumed that this was a step too far and he would now be dealt with. Wrong. She proceeded to sell him four bottles of wine. Not surprisingly this passenger became even more animated the more he drank. This culminated in him announcing that he did not care if the plane crashed and he then wanted to know if there were any Muslims on board. Only then did the crew step in and he was confronted by the Senior Cabin Manager. In fairness she was fantastic; strict but not confrontational and over about 20 minutes she defused the situation to the point that this idiot fell asleep.
However, this situation was heading from a drama to a crisis because, in my opinion, of the foolhardy action of a member of the crew. It was stated, quite clearly, that bad behaviour would not be tolerated and that the crew had the right to refuse to sell alcohol to any passenger. This seemed to be the first thing that was ignored.
Why am I so angry? 1. I was a passenger who, at one time, did not feel safe at all. 2. In my day job, I am one of those on the ground that has to respond to this kind of situation when it gets out of hand. By that I mean initiating and helping to run the miltary response that goes hand in hand with reports of unruly passengers or an on board threat. That reponse also includes a lot of other agencies and, quite possibly, the diversion of such an aircraft to another airport. It's big, it's expensive and it has very big knock on effects. In this instance it is hypothetical but over the last 11 years I have been involved in many real events, often started by a silly error.
I would like to think this was an isolated incident and I would welcome any feedback from the CC community. I am seriously considering writing to the Airline concerned giving details, including names, and submitting a more formal report to the Department for Transport and Security.
Over the top? You had to be there..........................