Relax - Some take advantage after a few drinks

Relax

News

Article

SINGAPORE - Some men get a bit too touchy-feely with air stewardesses after a few drinks on board airplanes, says Ms Janet Chew, who was an air stewardess with SIA for 13 years.

The 38-year-old said: "They are using close proximity and intoxication as an excuse."

In 2009, Ms Chew released a book about her life as a stewardess, titled The Mile Hi! Club: Memoirs Of A Stewardess, and now runs Peppercorn Social Media Solutions with a business partner.

When The New Paper spoke to her on Friday, she recalled an incident which took place "about four to five years ago" where a male passenger had touched her female colleague's buttocks twice.

He first touched her when she bent down to retrieve a tray. She brushed it off as an accident, but when he repeated the act when she bent down again, she felt that it was intentional.

The stewardess then asked him if he had touched her and he apologised, claiming that it was an accident.

According to Ms Chew, passengers who behave like the man would be addressed "firmly but nicely" by a leading member of the cabin crew.

If passengers do not comply, the pilot would be informed and "the company (SIA) will support the crew all the way" if any action is taken.

Ms Chew said there is a higher tendency of such incidents happening when male passengers are drunk.

"Because of the air pressure in planes, they become intoxicated at a much faster rate when they drink," she explained.

Ms Chew said that cabin crew members are trained to look out for signs of passengers drinking too much.

While they try to help passengers who are drinking too much stay sober by "offering them peanuts or snacks", Ms Chew feels that intoxication is merely an excuse for some men to take advantage of the stewardesses.

"At the end of it all, there is no reason for passengers to touch us.

"Period."

Get The New Paper for more stories.

Some take advantage after a few drinks

By Audrey Tan, The New Paper | Mon, Sep 17 2012

Ms Chew said there is a higher tendency of such incidents happening when male passengers are drunk.

Keywords

southeast asia
singapore
airlines & airports

stewardess

drunk

molest