Flight attendants are pleading with passengers to stop taking out their anger on airline workers: ‘We don’t want to fight’

• Flight attendants said they want frustrated passengers to stop getting angry at airline workers.
• The Association of Flight attendants reported 85% of workers dealt with unruly passengers in 2021.
• Flight attendants said passenger aggression is leading to burnout and worsened mental health.
• See more stories on Insider's business page.

Since airline travel rebounded this spring as vaccinations went up, flight attendants said they encountered more aggressive passengers than before the pandemic.

The vast majority of flight attendants – 85% – said they had dealt with unruly passengers since the year started, according to a 5,000 person survey by the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA union.

One Chicago-based flight attendant said part of her job is understanding she never knows why someone is flying; she does not know whether they are flying for a vacation or a funeral. She therefore tries to be patient with all her passengers.

But she said the same patience is "never" extended back to flight attendants.

"It's hard to not be seen as a human at work, you're seen as an entity," the Chicago-based flight attendant told Insider. "I am the face of the airline and for people to air all their grievances directly to me, when, in reality, there's only so much I can do."

Five flight attendants told Insider they want airline passengers to stop taking their frustration out on them. Most flight attendants requested to stay anonymous so they could speak freely. Insider has confirmed their identities and employment.

Read more: 5 trends in ocean freight you need to know if you want to understand today's shipping crisis

A New York-based flight attendant said not only are disagreements over mask wearing causing the abuse, but heated political events like the 2020 election may have brought out passenger anger.

Harvard psychologist Luana Marques recently told Insider's Avery Hartmans passengers may be more aggressive right now due to the collective fear and anxiety over the COVID-19 pandemic for the past year and a half.

One Boston-based flight attendant said she can understand that passengers feel frustrated by the patchwork mask rules and the ongoing pandemic, but urged passengers not to take their anger out on her and other workers.

She said she used to have more fun on the job from traveling and interacting with passengers, but since passenger violence soared, she's felt burned out and anxious about going into work.

"I still think it's a great job to have, but it's just like, is it worth the possible abuse you have to withstand, is it worth not being supported by your company, is it worth being shamed almost when you request personal time?" she said.

Flight attendants told Insider the harassment has taken a toll on their mental health. Nas Lewis, a Chicago-based flight attendant and the founder of the mental health resource for airline workers th|AIR|apy, said she has seen a rise in activity this summer due to passenger violence.

Lewis said flight attendants have posted photos of themselves crying to the th|AIR|apy Facebook group, and said some have revealed they've engaged in self-harm.

A Texas-based flight attendant said she has deliberately not worked in certain parts of the aircraft she knows will encounter the most abuse. She said she has been called a "bitch," sworn at, and told to "watch her back" by aggressive passengers.

She said passengers may be more aggressive in the air because of frustration over the pandemic. The flight attendant said passengers may feel "emboldened" to act aggressively due to the lack of consequences unruly travelers face.

The AFA called for the Department of Justice and the FAA to intervene in passenger violence incidents more often. According to the AFA survey, 71% of flight attendants who filed incident reports received no follow-up and a majority "did not observe efforts to address the rise in unruly passengers by their employers."

"All the customers signed an agreement saying that they would abide by the rules when they buy their ticket, and I'll just ask that they adhere to that. It's really simple," the Texas-based flight attendant said. "We don't want to fight about it every minute."