Airlines Campaign to Stop Air Rage

Monday July 2 7:43 AM ET

TOKYO (Reuters) - Japanese flight attendants from 12 airlines fanned out in airports nationwide on Sunday, launching a campaign to combat air rage among travelers usually regarded as among the best-behaved in the world.

Cases of violence and sexual harassment soared to 570 on Japanese airlines last year, a more than sevenfold rise in just four years, showed a survey by Japan Airlines, All Nippon Airways and Japan Air System.

Bowing flight attendants at Tokyo's Narita and Haneda airports and at Kansai, near Osaka, began handing out more than 100,000 leaflets urging air travelers to control themselves and refrain from bad behavior.

``About 10 cabin attendants from each airline were handing out leaflets reading 'Let's protect safety','' a flight official at Tokyo's domestic Haneda airport said.

Typical in-flight bad behavior included violence and harassment by drunken passengers, smoking in the lavatories and use of mobile phones, the survey showed.

Arrests resulting from such air rage incidents totaled 45, public broadcaster NHK said. It gave no time period.

To try to improve flight safety, the airlines have also asked the government to pass a law to regulate passenger behavior, Kyodo news agency said.

The campaign will last for one month.

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