Flight attendants say the stress of dealing with unruly passengers has left them exhausted and fearing for their safety
- Flight attendants said they were "physically and emotionally" exhausted, CNN reported.
- Crew members at US airlines were just "over it," said Mitra Amirzadeh, a flight attendant.
- Disruptive behavior continues to be a problem, with FAA fines topping $1 million this year.
The disruptive behaviour of many airline passengers this summer has left flight attendants feeling drained.
Over the last few months, crew members have reported untold incidents of unruly behavior, including travelers who have hit, yelled at, and shoved staff members.
A Southwest Airlines flight attendant in May was said to have had two of her teeth knocked out by a passenger.
And a JetBlue Airways passenger was fined $45,000 for putting his head up a flight attendant's skirt, the Federal Aviation Administration said.
The FAA said in a statement in August that it has proposed more than $1 million in fines against passengers this year.
Flight attendants told CNN they have hit breaking point.
"We've gone through worrying about our health and safety, worrying about our jobs - now [we are] worrying about our safety in a different way," Allie Malis, of American Airlines, told CNN.
Another flight attendant, Mitra Amirzadeh, told CNN she has had to deal with "a lot of babysitting" on flights.
"The actual children on board behave better than the grown adults do," she said, adding that crews across were just "over it."
Another crew member said she walks into work expecting disruptive incidents.
"I come in expecting to get push back. I come in expecting to have a passenger that could potentially get violent," Susannah Carr told CNN.
Such air rage incidents have caused flight attendants to resume self-defense trainings to stop violent passengers assaulting staff, the Transportation Security Administration announced in a press release. The classes had previously been paused due to COVID-19 restrictions.