The airlines must accept the major portion of the blame. Airline managment is not responding to the need for in-flight security. Crews should not be in the position to be bouncers and bodyguards. Every flight attendant I know has been the brunt of temperamental travelers. When I was exhausted myself at times, my lack of training in this area did not give me the skills to handle these passengers as well as I could have.
Passengers feel they are packed like sardines in a can.
Imagine sardines sitting up in a can. Vincent Mark, M.D., an environmental physician in Santa Cruz, supports my theory. Rage bubbles up at high altitude just like soft drinks fizz over at high altitudes. The link between air rage and poor air quality deserves a closer look. To start with, passenger unruliness began to rise some 20 years ago, coinciding with the cost-cutting practice of using recycled air instead of fresh air in commercial jets.