This Airline Flight Attendant Reaps Praise After Successfully Disbanding Passenger Fights In The Air

Illustration of the Eva Air fleet. (Wikimedia Commons/Melvinnnnnnnnnnn (FN2187))

JAKARTA - Three EVA Air flight attendants received praise for successfully easing physical fights between two passengers in the cabin as the airline aired.

In a statement to CNN as quoted on May 20, the airline said the fight started when a passenger was reported to be coughing and the man next to him tried to move to another seat to avoid it.

However, the man's efforts to exchange seats were unsuccessful because the seat he chose belonged to another male passenger. The two men then fought over the chair, which the airline said turned into physical contact.

That's when three female flight attendants intervened to deal with the situation, EVA Air said.

BR08 flights have flown for three hours from a total 12-hour journey between Taipei and San Francisco, United States on Wednesday, May 8, when the incident occurred.

EVA Air, based in Taiwan, said the two passengers who fought were both foreigners, but did not mention their country of origin.

Thanks to the fast action of these flight attendants, with the help of some of the passengers concerned, the airline said the two men were separated, while the rest of the flights continued on schedule, managed to land in San Francisco on time.

The plane captain contacted San Francisco police in the middle of the flight, and the two aggressive passengers were taken for questioning upon arrival, according to EVA.

"The company has always implemented a zero-tolerance policy against incidents that disturb passengers," EVA told CNN in a statement.

"The company will give the appropriate compensation to (the three cabin crew) later," the airline continued.

This is not the first time the EVA incident in the air has made headlines. In 2019, a male passenger who was obese reportedly forced a female flight attendant to help her take off her clothes, use a bathroom and clean her afterwards, arguing she herself was physically unable to do so.

After the incident, EVA publicly expressed "sincere gratitude" to its employees and pledged to investigate the incident further.

That same year, EVA scrapped its policy of only employing women as flight attendants, saying it would hire men as cabin crew.