Airport staff 'don't feel safe' at work due to abuse

A Unite union representative who works at Gatwick Airport says verbal abuse from passengers can be so bad that staff "don't feel safe in our own jobs".

According to a recent Union survey of around 1,800 people from across the profession, abuse and harassment are widespread in the aviation sector, including at Gatwick.

Polly Richardson, who works in special assistance at Gatwick, said the abuse often becomes "personal", but staff "have to take it, because we're told that the passenger's right".

A London Gatwick spokesperson said: "The safety and security of London Gatwick staff and passengers is always our top priority. No staff member should face verbal or physical abuse."

The survey found that 74% of the Gatwick workers surveyed received verbal abuse at least monthly, while 42% had been physically assaulted.

These findings come as the union launches its Abuse Doesn't Fly Campaign, which calls for new laws to be introduced to ensure that abusive passengers are banned from airports.

This campaign also asks for such bans to be coordinated so that passengers cannot transfer to different airlines and airports.

Richardson believes the current approach can reward "bad behaviour".

She told BBC Radio Sussex: "One thing that seems to happen a lot at airports is that the people who are aggressive seem to be commended and get pushed through."

It is about employing "any way or means to calm them down", Richardson explained, adding that staff see this "so often that we don't feel safe in our own jobs".

Richardson, who had a lit cigarette flicked at her during one incident, said alcohol is a contributor but some people simply feel that they "have a right to abuse the system".

The Abuse Doesn't Fly Campaign is also backed by Crawley MP Peter Lamb, who in July tabled an Early Day Motion in Parliament urging the government, airport operators and police to introduce stronger measures.

Reflecting on the influence of alcohol, he said airports, unlike pubs, are not "set up" to manage the impact of people "hammering down pints before they get on planes".

He said: "Some of the abuse we're talking about here has people in therapy for years dealing with the consequences of what they've faced."

A spokesperson for the Department for Transport said: "Any abuse of staff or passengers, whether on a flight or in the airport, is completely unacceptable.

"That's why we are working with industry and trade unions to create a system for sharing information on persistently disruptive passengers, making disruptors easier to spot, keeping staff and passengers safer from the get-go."

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