Imagine you’re on a plane and you’re in the zone for a 17-hour nonstop flight from Perth, Australia to London, England.
And then after just over an hour into the flight, somebody on board (allegedly) behaves so badly that the plane has to turn around and take you to back to your departure point. You’d be pretty annoyed, right?
Well, that’s what happened on Qantas Flight 9, the much-touted fast way to the UK from Western Australia.
According to reports, the male passenger was “hyper aggressive, like a cornered animal”.
The man apparently went to the toilet, returned and then “was suddenly standing up and shouting and pointing in an extremely aggressive manner.”
A man was escorted off the plane, spoiling the plans of hundreds of people who were hoping to be well on their way to their destination but were back to where they began.
It’s not Qantas’s fault, of course. The airline is obliged to do what its crew believe is in the best interests of all passengers and to work within legal and safety guidelines.
Air rage is something I’ve written about before, and some say it’s a growing occurrence. Posited reasons include the fact that more people are flying than ever before — many of them for the first time — and the amount of alcohol that some people consume before and during flights.
Without prejudging this particular case, do we now need to add that the prospect of 17 or more hours on board without a break is just too stressful to contemplate for some people?
Whatever the reason (with the exception of an incident caused by illness), the courts must be tough on offenders in order to limit similar offences.
These incidents are not only inconvenient, they add considerably to airlines’ overall costs — and that is going to be reflected in ticket prices for all of us.
Meanwhile, I feel sorry for those people who took the nonstop flight because they were in a hurry to get to London.
P.S. Here is an update on the story.
