Question

Since 911, heightened airline security has increased frustrations for both airline employees and passengers. Passengers have to abide by the ever more rules that airline employees must enforce. For instance, on a flight from Europe to the United States, a simple passenger request escalated quickly. “John Murphy asked a flight attendant about a sign telling passengers not to venture beyond the curtain separating the economy class from the rest of the plane.”, the New York Times reported. “He wanted to stretch his legs and visit his wife seated on the opposite aisle., using the passageway behind the gallery in the plane’s midsection. But when he questioned a flight attendant, on the policy and began recording their conversation using his cell phone, the situation quickly escalated. The flight attendant grabbed his phone, and nearby federal air marshalls intervened.”

The marshalls held him against the wall with his hands behind his back. Murphy said, “ I wasn’t violent. I didn’t use four-letter words. All I did was ask this guy, about the sign on the curtain and they flipped out.”. Afterwards, Murphy wandered about his rights and the rules., such as being restricted to particular cabins and not just bathrooms, as well as the right to video/audio record flight crew. A spokesperson of the Federal Aviation Administration responded that there is no rule limiting passengers movement on planes, but no person may assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a crew member in the performance of the crew member's duties..”

1. Identify as many problems as possible

2. What are some ways to deal with these problems?

3. Analyze and discuss.

4. Decision Criteria and Alternatives.

5. What are your future recommendations?

Answer 1

1. The problems in this case are:

a. Restrictions in the plane- sign telling passengers not to venture beyond the curtain separating the economy class from the rest of the plane.

b. Recording- John Murphy started recording the conversation with the flight attendant thus inviting trouble.

c. Grabbing the phone – The flight attendant grabbed his phone which was also unfair.

d. Intervening of Federal Air Marshalls- The Federal Marshalls intervened that made the situation worse.

e. Violence- The Federal Air Marshalls held Murphy used violence to stop Murphy from questioning.

2. Some of the ways to deal with the problems are:

a. Murphy should not have recorded the conversation because it was threatening the crew member.

b. The crew member should have been polite rather than escalating it to Federal Air Marshall.

c. The Federal Air Marshall should have first listened to and addressed Murphy’s concerns.

3. In this scenario, the problems arose because of mistrust and miscommunication. First of all, Murphy should not have started recording the conversation as it was a great threat to the privacy of the crew members. Secondly, the crew member did not take any efforts to speak politely to Murphy. Finally, the Federal Air Marshalls took action even before addressing Murphy’s concerns. These problems arose because of mistrust between Murphy and the crew member.

4. Decision criteria-

a. Passenger’s satisfaction- There should be passenger satisfaction by addressing their concerns.

b. Performance of crew members – which is critical to avoid such incidents.

- Alternatives-

o Passenger behavior- The passengers’ behavior should not be threatening to others.

o Communication problems- The airline company should have effectively communicated the problems.

o Training- Adequate training should have been provided to the crew members to handle such critical incidents.

5. My future recommendations are that:

a. The crew members should be provided adequate training to handle difficult passengers like Murphy and not escalate it immediately without listening to the passengers’ concerns.

b. Passengers also should be educated about the rules of the airline company that their behavior should not threatening or intimidating to others.

Note- If you like the answer, please provide an up-vote as it would be quite encouraging for me. Thank you.