Ian Mitchell
Air Canada’s Approach to Disruptive/Unruly Passenger Training
Ensuring our Cabin Crew are well-prepared and equipped to manage disruptive/unruly passenger situations has always been of primary importance.
We recognize that disruptive/unruly passenger events have the potential to pose a real threat to the safety of crew and other passengers. In addition to robust SOPs and restraining equipment, rigorous training is a key component in managing these events.
Our training focuses on ensuring a thorough knowledge of the procedures, maintaining personal safety, de-escalation, and conflict management, as well as the safe application of restraints. We accomplish this through a variety of methodologies including classroom sessions, eLearning, workbooks, practical training, and scenario-based role-playing.
Our eLearning modules center on recognizing passengers posing a threat, identifying the level of interference, the means of maintaining personal safety and applying the appropriate procedures. This is typically presented through the depiction of realistic scenarios through in-house produced videos or the use of avatars. Additional procedures, as well as disruptive/unruly passenger case studies are covered in a workbook.
Our classroom sessions tend to revolve around conflict management techniques. During practical training, crew are evaluated on the mechanics of restraint application, as well as in a scenario involving ABP mobilization, and immobilization and restraint of the disruptive passenger.
The pandemic has presented many new challenges for our Crew, including an increasing number of disruptive/unruly passenger incidents, particularly with regards to mask non-compliance. This has meant the need to update our training with an increased focus on conflict management and deescalation techniques. We’ve created realistic and detailed role-play scenarios, where our crew are given an opportunity to use their conflict management skills to defuse a potentially volatile situation. They are evaluated against clearly defined criteria and receive feedback from their instructors and perhaps more importantly from their colleagues.
