Swiss perspectives in 10 languages

More and more passengers flying into a temper

An airport passenger at duty free
Passengers are not allowed to drink on the plane alcohol that they have brought with them Keystone

Swiss airlines had to deal with more unruly passengers than ever before last year: 795 incidents occurred with people endangering other passengers and the flight itself. 

This figure is up from 755 the previous year and 637 in 2015, according to the SonntagsZeitungExternal link, quoting the Federal Office of Civil AviationExternal link

“The consumption of alcohol, drugs or medication is by far the most common cause of obstinate and unmanageable passengers,” said Karin Müller, a spokeswoman for Swiss International Air Lines. 

Helvetic Airlines and Edelweiss also reported problems, for example ignored safety instructions, verbal confrontations with flight attendants, smoking in the lavatories and drinking alcohol that passengers had brought onto the plane themselves. In addition, arguments between passengers, for example over hand luggage, continued to cause headaches for the cabin crew. 

In December, the pilot of a passenger jet destined for Zurich made an unscheduled stop at Stuttgart airport because a Swiss passenger had become aggressive after being denied champagne. 

German police said crew members were unable to calm the 44-year-old business class passenger, who was angered by their refusal to serve her more sparkling wine on the flight from Moscow. The woman was escorted off the Airbus A320 and ordered to pay €5,000 (CHF5,770).

In compliance with the JTI standards

More: SWI swissinfo.ch certified by the Journalism Trust Initiative

You can find an overview of ongoing debates with our journalists here. Please join us!

If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR

SWI swissinfo.ch - a branch of Swiss Broadcasting Corporation SRG SSR