pullock,
I apologise if my comments seemed a little heated and without full comprehension of the points you were trying to make.
I do remain a little unsympathetic though to those who cannot exercise reasonable levels of restraint under hardly trying conditions. No one twists these people's arem into going onto an aircraft. They make that decision themselves in full knowledge of strict security arrangements, crappy seat spacing, long sectors etc etc. If they don't think they can handle it then they shouldn't fly. If they do however and F
k up then they just better hope they land in a country with a soft c
k judicial system like Australia.
Somebody also suggested jailing the man, MY GOD, get your airline blinkers off dude, The man made a stupid and annoying comment, he did not actually assault anyone, he just threatened to.
To use this logic, I can threaten a crew member essential to the safety of the aircraft but without resorting to the physical act of assault I should expect what? A letter from the 5'4" FA saying "thankyou sir for not knocking my block off".
Whether or not he gets a custodial sentence is academic. By the description of this character he is a monty for an unfit to plead ruling.