A landmark survey by Unite, the leading union in civil air transport, has laid bare the scale of abuse suffered by workers in the sector.

Unite has launched its Abuse Doesn’t Fly Campaign which is calling for new laws to be introduced to ensure that violent and abusive passengers are banned from airports. Crucially such bans should be co-ordinated to ensure passengers can’t simply transfer to different airlines and airports.

It found abuse and harassment is a regular part of airline and airport staff’s working experience with 72 per cent of ground staff and 71 per cent of cabin crew receiving verbal abuse at least monthly.

Meanwhile almost a third (31 per cent) of ground staff and 42 per cent of cabin crew had been physically assaulted.

Alcohol was found to be the biggest trigger for abuse from passengers with 95 per cent of cabin crew and 55 per cent of ground staff citing this, followed by flight delays or cancellations and baggage issues.

Unite general secretary Sharon Graham said: “Abuse towards airport and aviation workers is not 'part of the job', it is a workplace safety issue that affects workers on the ground and in the air and can ultimately put other passengers at risk. All too often these workers are being left in harmful positions while doing very difficult jobs.

“Airports and airlines now need to up their game on this. They must make the safety of workers their top priority and work with Unite to stamp out workplace abuse once and for all. No worker should ever be put in dangerous situations for simply doing their job.”

On Friday (30 October), changes to the law around third-party harassment came into force as part of the Employment Rights Act 2025. These changes will mean employers such as airlines and airports must take all reasonable steps to prevent harassment of workers by third parties, such as customers or passengers, otherwise they will be liable.

Meanwhile, the aviation bill is currently going through parliament. This includes measures about disruptive passengers, but Unite does not believe that the bill currently goes far enough to protect workers.

Urgent change is needed. Unite has now launched its Abuse Doesn't Fly campaign, which is calling for:

1. A clear, national, worker-led approach to abusive and disruptive passenger behaviour in the form of a Worker Safety Charter. Out of those surveyed by Unite, 98 per cent of workers (ground staff and cabin crew) supported this plan.

2. Giving airports and airlines the power to ban disruptive and abusive passengers, as well as the power to coordinate between airports to make this effective.

3. Minimum standards (see notes to editors) to be introduced across the industry, ensuring workers are adequately protected from abuse and are properly supported when incidents occur.

Too often, the focus is only on incidents on board the aircraft itself. Unite believes if abuse is not challenged properly at the airport, the risk is simply moved further down the passenger journey, which is why it is crucial that a ban can be triggered by aggressive behaviour in the terminal itself.

The Aviation Bill will give the Civil Aviation Authority the power to ban disruptive passengers across multiple airlines – yet this only applies to abuse that happens on the plane itself.

However, Unite’s campaign is looking to have this extended so airports can intervene early and stop abuse before travellers board.

Unite’s survey found that when questioned on the adequacy of the support available after experiencing abuse, 71 per cent of ground staff and 60 per cent of cabin crew reported that management support was not adequate, with reporting procedures also judged to be inadequate by 74 per cent of ground staff and 62 per cent of cabin crew.

A previous survey by Unite from 2025 found 34 per cent of women working in civil air transport had been sexually harassed at work.

Unite national officer Oliver Richardson said: “Every aviation worker has the right to work free from abuse, threats, intimidation and violence.

“We need coordinated action against serious or repeat offenders. If both airports and airlines have the legal right to ban disruptive passengers from flying, it would go a long way to ensuring workers are kept safe.”

ENDS

Notes to editors

Case studies - more available on request.

Female, customer service: “Misogyny from passengers has definitely become worse in recent years. This summer has been particularly hard. A lot of the abuse directed at me comes because I am a woman and we are seen as easier targets. Multiple times I’ve been called a ‘b**ch’, I’ve been spat at and had passengers – male and female – says they are going to physically assault me. The mental pressure after a shift is huge and we are not safe at work.

“I was even threatened with rape by a male passenger who was on his phone at the E gates when I told him to put it away. It was a very distressing experience. He was allowed to go through still and another staff member even apologised to him. I received no support.”

Male, airside bus driver at Gatwick Airport: “I’ve had hot coffee thrown in my face multiple times after telling passengers they can’t take hot drinks on board. I tried to stop one passenger who did throw a hot drink at me from boarding and was told by management that I had to let him on. Another time, when I asked a passenger to fold their buggy they hit me with it, knocked me to the ground and threw it at me.

“I’ve received a lot of verbal abuse too. I’ve been sworn at or told to go ‘back home’ to my own country. Often when to stop an abusive passenger from boarding, they just get on the next bus and can get on the aircraft. There is no mechanism in place to warn another driver about their behaviour. The situation has definitely been getting worse in recent months and often management can be blasé about the abuse we get.”

Female, cabin crew operating out of East Midlands Airport: “While carrying out my duties, I was walking past a passenger and they deliberately smacked me on the bottom. I found this behaviour completely inappropriate and unacceptable. The incident made me feel embarrassed, violated and very uncomfortable while carrying out my work. It affected me more than I initially expected and left me questioning why I continue to do the job I am currently doing.”

Male, flight supervisor at Heathrow Airport: “My role is the first point of contact in the airport passengers usually have. Every day we have some abuse, usually it is swearing at us. My worst experience was when I had a woman who was a dual national but did not have the correct authorisation to fly so I told her she could not travel. When I explained the rule, a man who had taken her to the airport came over and accused me of being rude. He became more agitated, threatened to have me dismissed then tried to take my picture.

“I had my personal phone and work phone in my hand and suddenly he grabbed my personal phone and smashed it on the ground and broke it, then when I was picking it up he tried to push me. He then just walked away quickly and was able to leave the airport. It was a very scary experience. I reported the incident to the police but I didn’t feel management were helpful or cared about how I was feeling.”

Female, cabin crew, Bristol Airport: “Recently, I had a passenger grab my bum with both of his hands when I was securing the cabin. It was unprompted, I had never spoken to him. I’ve also witnessed a passenger punch my colleague in the face and stomach because he asked him to put his seatbelt on for landing - resulting in a black eye. I told a passenger once that he had to wait a second to disembark as we were waiting for buses and he grabbed my neck by my neck scarf, got it my face and told me to ‘let him off now or I would regret it’.”

Minimum standards

Unite believes that minimum standards must be introduced across the industry, ensuring workers are adequately protected from abuse and properly supported when incidents do occur.

This should include:

1. Increased police presence, especially during peak times such as Easter and summer.

2. Mandatory zero tolerance signage.

3. Better recording procedures for abuse incidents at airports.

4. Panic alarms or alternatives to ensure worker safety in key airport areas.

5. Counselling services to workers struggling due to abuse, aggression or assault.

6. Training for workers on how to report, escalate and respond to abusive or threatening behaviour.

7. Regular review of incidents by operators, jointly with union representatives.

8. Regular review by operators, jointly with union representatives, of aggravating factors such as alcohol, delays, cancellations, queues, missed connections and disruption.

Unite sent the survey to all its UK members in the civil air transport sector, which includes ground staff, such as workers on check-in desks, in security screening and baggage handling as well as cabin crew and received around 1,800 responses.

The survey was undertaken in September 2026.

The survey also found that 87 per cent of ground staff and 89 per cent of cabin crew had witnessed a colleague being abused.

For media enquiries ONLY please contact Unite press officer Natasha Wynarczyk on 07970081524

Email: natasha.wynarczyk@unitetheunion.org