Unruly airline passenger incidents are on the increase and pose a continuous problem for the aviation industry - specifically for the flight attendants who have the responsibility of managing cabin safety, but also for other passengers who have to witness such incidents or are in other ways affected by them.
There are a multitude of events which appear in both aviation and the mass media, and an even greater number of unreported incidents, which plague the industry and impact crewmembers, and the travelling public, around the globe. DISPAX World 2023 returns this year in a post-pandemic environment which aims to dispel some of the myths circulating around the airline industry and cut out the fact from the fiction.
In one of the opening sessions they'll cover three main topics :
One - We start with the protection afforded carriers and their aircrew by the Tokyo Convention. Is there really blanket immunity from prosecution when it comes to the management of unruly passengers? Are crew assuming that ‘immunity from prosecution’ equates with ‘immunity from litigation’? Dr Rebekah Tanti-Dougall (Tanti-Dougall & Associates, Malta) will highlight the limitations of the protection ‘guaranteed’, highlighting the importance of distinguishing between criminal and civil action that may be taken and the consideration that needs to be given to the incorporation of the Convention’s standards into national law within the State in which the aircraft lands.
Two - Whilst many aircraft carry restraint kits for application on unruly passengers, there are differing views as to whether a passenger, once restrained, may be physically restrained to their seat. Many airlines tell their crews that this is illegal as it could impede the passenger’s ability to disembark the aircraft in the extremely unlikely event of an emergency landing or ditching. Dr. Sofia Mateou (Associate Professor, Aviation Management, Prince Sultan University, Saudi Arabia) considers whether this is indeed the case given that the unruly passenger has already endangered the safety of the aircraft.
Three - We conclude the session with an analysis of whether alcohol, narcotics and medication really do have a greater impact aboard an aircraft flying at altitude that they do on the ground. Frederick Reitz (Managing Director, SAFEsky Inc, USA) distils fact from fiction and, given that the aircraft cabin is pressurised (so nobody is really experiencing high altitude conditions), discusses whether it is true these substances can exaggerate bad behaviour or whether it is simply untrue that ‘one drink in the sky is worth two on the ground’.
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DISPAX WORLD 2023, Czech Republic
11 - 12 October 2023
11 - 12 October 2023 DISPAX World 2023 is the 4th international conference on unruly passenger management and restraint. Its overall aim is to increase awareness and knowledge regarding the causal factors of disruptive behaviour, share best practice between carriers, and to provide a forum in which industry professionals can discuss innovative techniques for the improvement of the quality of training afforded crew to both prevent incidents escalating in the first place and, should that fail, to ensure they have the skillsets to manage aggression and violence in the skies.
The fourth edition of the conference – being the first in the post-pandemic era - will be addressing:
Best practice in aircrew security training;Quashing myths associated with the causes of unruly behaviour;Responsibility of airlines to address forseeable risk;Airport best practice in unruly pax management;Xenophobia and extremism in the aircraft cabin;Biomechinical considerations in physical interventions;Faked disruptive behaviour to disguise other criminal acts;Sexually abusive behaviour towards crew and fellow passengers; and,Demonstrations of restraint kitsDISPAX World 2023 will take place at Prague Airport’s Congress Hall.
The Programme...
The programme, chaired by Philip Baum (Managing Director, Green Light and Visiting Professor, Aviation Security, at Coventry University) includes presentations from the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA), the European Transport Workers Federation, academics and representatives of a broad range of airlines keen to demonstrate their approach to unruly airline passenger management and restraint.
To see the continually updated programme online, do visit us at:
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