High-profile blitz on violence at Norwich Airport
30.09.07
Fly-on-the-wall TV shows featuring angry airline passengers shouting at airline staff have sparked an upsurge in abusive customers at Norwich Airport, it was claimed last night. The Eastern Daily Press reports that shows such as BBC's Airport have been held partly to blame for more people flying off the handle because footage of volatile confrontations on screen are misconstrued as the normal way to settle disputes and problems at airports.
Front-line staff who have witnessed death threats and been on the receiving end of drunken abuse spoke out as the airport joined with the police to launch a zero-tolerance crackdown on violent and aggressive behaviour at Norwich International. Colourful posters around the terminal warn passengers that they could be prevented from travelling that day, banned from future flights and prosecuted.
Managing director, Richard Jenner, said he hoped the high-profile crackdown would make people stop and think before they act. He said: 'It's become evident over a period of time that we are dealing with more incidents of passengers being abusive or rude to our staff and indeed sometimes threatening them.'
Jon Dewing, operations duty manager, said incidents happened on a regular basis - particularly if a flight was held up. He told the newspaper: 'I've heard a man threatening to find out where a member of staff lived, and that he was going to kill her.'
'Sometimes it can be the people you would least expect, such as businessmen who bang on the check-in desk and bully the young woman dealing with them until she cries. I step in and ask if they would like someone to speak to their daughter like that, and it normally calms them down.'
He also said he had seen a change since Airport, a prime-time programme which was set at Heathrow and ran for about 10 years from the mid-90s. 'They've seen so many people getting angry during half an hour of edited highlights from a week or more at the airport and think it's the norm if you want to get your way.'
Chief Insp. Kevin Clarke said all airports had reported an increase in incidents, and although it had not been a dramatic rise police and airports had decided to tackle it.
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