RE: A Reading About The Sexual Harassment The Flight Attendants Are Facing in Asia These Days...
To me, that actually sounds a lot lower than I would expect. Humans are...intolerable at times, at best. They shouldn't touch someone without permission...but given how many customers they deal with on a daily basis, there are going to be troublesome people at times, including people that will masturbate in public. It's probably lucky he was using a blanket.
I think the fault is in the airline in these cases, for not training people on how to deal with these situations, and perhaps to some degree putting forth an inappropriate image.
What kind of lecherous fiend buys tickets on an airline because the flight attendants wear bikinis? Normal guys are attracted to females...but to advertise the fact that you can see them in skimpy outfits? Ehh...
The airlines should put forth an image of helpful responsible flight attendants... I don't know about anyone else...but I'd rather have a flight attendant that's certified in CPR and doesn't act horribly rude rather than one that's in a skimpy outfit. Though I suppose they can be both, but I think the professional image of someone that will do their job well is better.
Back to the harassment and touching...the customer isn't always right...and someone shouldn't really have to deal with customers that are inappropriate...but the reality of the world is that people like that exist. We weren't all trained in some cookie cutter factory. Some people think they can get away with things. Because of this, people need to be trained in how to deal with different situations, so that problem customers are dealt with appropriately. The managers might not necessarily know what to do even when a customer does certain things. They don't want to necessarily lose a customer or an employee or get sued or anything like that.
I'm still surprised there aren't more incidents. Since there are often a limited number of flight attendants to a large number of customers, then there are only a few problem clients out of hundreds, when it comes to sexual harassment. I'm sure many waitresses get far worse.
Of course, maybe I just have a low opinion of people. I expect there to be quite a few troublesome people in any group.
Thanks for the comment @geekpowered. I totally agree with you. In Asia, the airlines like to hide the cases which is related to sexual harassment. It’s because they don’t have any proper and detailed policy to support the flight attendants. Ok for example, the passenger who touched us probably just a verbal warning for captain but that’s it. So until now we still waiting for company to take further action to deal with this problem. Also, of course we all know passengers are never always right. But now in this industry, more and more budget airlines joined and they actually are killing the market of premium airlines. That’s why airlines wanna hide the bad news and also tell us to not talk too much about being touched. Flight attendants always need to be trained well, however, the standard of training lessons are different- some of the airlines just offered an easy and basic for cabin crews esp budget airlines. That’s the problem we are having now- we need to be competitive and also need to keep the passengers coming back, at the same time we can’t ruin the relationship between airlines and passengers. So at the end we can’t offend the passengers and also need to please them. That’s the reality 🙁
The company likely won't take "further action" against passengers unless it's forced to...though that is possible if someone in a position of power decides that it's for the best due to the changing society viewpoint on harassment.
Of course, I dunno that legal action is strictly necessary for all cases. Though they should perhaps consider implementing a system of strikes or something. In practice, for most people, this would have no effect, other than feeling as if they were admonished, but for anyone that has been warned that flies with the company again, perhaps their name would be on a list, and flight attendants could be warned. They could also be banned if they receive a certain number of strikes, or commit something bad enough to warrant such, such as masturbating on the plane, or touching someone inappropriately. While these people should still be able to reach their destination, even if they are "troublesome", it doesn't mean that you have to ferry them.
As to covering up...it's a stupid move. If it comes out in the current climate where things such as this mean so much more, then the airline could lose millions. Although it's not exactly something you'd put on billboards, being a company known for taking care of your employees does still mean something. People do remember some things, and they might choose to pay slightly more for an airline that they respect.
If anything, in this climate, I would actually make a spectacle out of a lawsuit against one of the worst passengers. Free publicity in a time where it's not acceptable to sexually harass people.
Of course, it might hurt with some people that might have a tendency to grab bums...but should that really be your target demographic?
Of course, there are also some times that you should possibly ignore some minor offences...but that's where the training comes in. Like it or not, some people are pervs, and some honestly don't even know that what they say can be taken to such offence...and you kinda should train employees on how to deal with such customers.
I would say do basic training for all employees, then slowly add more training as they prove to be dependable, and then they slowly train others under them. To be able to deal with customers effectively, you need that training, and that training helps you earn more money, but you can't expend it on someone that's only going to be there a few months or even a year. So you slowly train them, and they learn by example from those that are better trained.
Airlines have become a very difficult business...but other industries have shown us that people will pay for better service and care, when they are aware of it, and see it as worth it. Considering that flight attendants are the front lines when dealing with customers, while there are some ways that you can save with them...not giving them the proper training to deal with situations they will face is a grave error.