Two men have been seen fighting over air conditioning on an aeroplane after footage captured by fellow passengers was shared to social media.
Yet to be identified, the two men in the clip can be seen throwing punches at each other after one man gets upset at the other for touching the overhead air conditioning unit.
The Daily Mail has reported the incident took place on an Eva Air flight shortly after passengers had boarded the plane and taken their seats. It’s unclear if either of the men involved in the fight have been removed or reprimanded for their actions.
At the beginning of the clip, a man wearing a neck pillow reaches up to adjust the aircon before another man in the aisle seat reaches over to swipe his hand away, saying “Don’t fuck with it”.
The man with the neck pillow proceeds to throw a punch at that aisle-seat man. The pair of them stand up to face each other and throw punches when the man with the neck pillow then pushes the other man into the aisle, saying “Chill bitch”.
As the man who was pushed returns to his seat, a passenger can be heard saying “Y’all both gonna be kicked off the plane. Just chill out. Maybe y’all shouldn’t sit together no more”.
The fight between the adult men then continues before a female flight attendant appears to intervene and speak to them both.
“I opened this vent and he hit me in the face,” says the man with the neck pillow.
The man near the aisle then says, “No, he was hitting me in the face. I told him that this is not yours.”
Following the pandemic, airlines have seen an increase in unruly behaviour from passengers, which began with conflicts over mask requirements and can often involve young men who’ve consumed alcohol or other drugs before flights.
The International Transport Association released data in 2023 showing that unruly passenger incidents have risen 47 per cent globally since 2021, even after pandemic restrictions eased.
“The public does not hear about the 99 per cent of would-be incidents that are resolved by flight attendants without event,” the Association of Flight Attendants President Sara Nelson told the NBC News about the data. “We deescalate conflict as aviation’s first responders on nearly every flight.”
The majority of flight attendants here in Australia are female, according to government data that shows women make up around 74 per cent of the sector’s workforce.