United: Avoid Using Duct Tape to Restrain Unruly Passengers

United Airlines tells its flight attendants to not use duct tape when restraining unruly passengers. United Airlines’ senior vice president of inflight services John Slater sent a memo to flight attendants on Friday.

He wrote: “Please remember that there are designed items onboard that may be used in difficult situations, and alternative measures such as tape should never be used”. He added that “The overwhelming majority of our customers have been on their best behavior throughout the pandemic and returned to our flights with confidence and enthusiasm”.

Restraining Unruly Passengers Using Duct Tape

United didn’t specify the “designated items” referred to by Slater.

The memo refers to recent viral videos where passengers were restrained using duct tape. Viral videos included Frontier and American Airlines flights.

On a Frontier Airlines flight last month, a passenger had to be restrained after punching and groping flight attendants.

In an American Airlines flight, a woman was duct-taped to her seat after attacking flight attendants and attempting to open the plane’s front boarding door during a flight. And just last week, in another American Airlines flight, a 13-year old had to be taped on his seat. According to witnesses, the boy had an altercation with his mother and tried to kick the airplane window.

Slater said, “a few airlines recently made news about the way they’ve handled situations onboard”. Instead of using duct tape, Slater suggested using “all aspects of inflight safety training, including de-escalation”.

A Reminder of Existing Policies

United says that the memo is simply a reminder of their existing policies. The airline added that “These are not new safety policies and this reference was in a weekly memo we distribute to our inflight crews”.

Sara Nelson, the president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA calls the memo “incredibly offensive, and clueless”. She tweets that “Mostly this communication is just showing total lack of support and respect for people on the frontlines”.