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In “Anger in the Air: Combating the Air Rage Phenomenon” former airline industry insider Dr. Joyce A. Hunter examines the causes of air rage and more importantly, why it is increasing worldwide. She reveals a number of simple measures the airline industry could take to keep it under control—and why they’ve chosen instead to sweep the problem under the rug. Dr. Hunter, a business professor and former airline executive, starts by outlining the many kinds of air rage, including outbursts provoked by the passenger’s personal demons from alcoholism to schizophrenia; meltdowns provoked by the airlines’ infuriating or shortsighted policies, and some that are a mixture of the two, like the apparent temporary insanity triggered by toxic cabin air that caused one man to dance naked in the aisles, another to defecate on a first class food cart—and a third to pull a knife on the plane’s captain. She then outlines the simple and often inexpensive steps that airlines could take to prevent all kinds of air rage. Finally Dr. Hunter shows how one airline does it right by making sensible changes in airline policy that cascade through the flight experience, sending passengers home from the airport with fond memories of a pleasant trip.

Imagine you’re dozing in your seat as your plane cruises at 30,000 feet. Suddenly a deranged passenger starts screaming “I’m gonna kill you!” and attacking flight attendants or trying to open the emergency exit or urinating in the aisle—or in a worst case scenario, breaking into the cockpit and grabbing the controls, sending the flight into a screaming dive. Unfortunately a growing number of passengers don’t need to imagine this kind of “air rage”—they’ve experienced it first hand.

Air rage is an irrational explosion of anger like road rage, except when the pandemonium breaks out the victims are trapped in an aluminum tube with no police in sight and nowhere to go but down. After the horrific September 11, 2001 attacks, experts hoped the level of air rage would drop as fliers realized how vulnerable they were in mid-air, but 9/11 just multiplied the pain of flying in our low-cost, no-frills era. When tension about terrorism and endless security lines were added to the frustrations of crowded planes, long delays, canceled flights and runway stranding passengers were more likely than ever to throw tantrums about abysmal airline service. As a result, in recent years the number of air rage incidents has skyrocketed to more than 10,000 a year.

Anger in the Air: Combating the Air Rage Phenomenon provides airlines with valuable input to help them better meet the service expectations of their customers and avoid instances of air rage on their flights.
Provide answers to today’s customers regarding their needs and expectations. The book addresses key issues in five stages:

1. Discussing air rage incidents that have caused us to focus not just on the rage levels that some passengers reach during flight but, more importantly, why these rage levels are happening more often worldwide.
2. Considering what we know to be problematic with airline industry culture and what is questionable; what can be redesigned and how.
3. Presenting the key information regarding the psychology of air rage, as a means to identify new areas to be considered in airline attendant training programs.
4. Learning directly from airline passengers what it is that they really value from customer service.
5. Looking to the future and planning changes in the context of additional pressing issues such as security, pricing and safety.