Flight attendants at Denver International Airport spread awareness about growing problem: unruly passengers

Flight attendants greeted passengers outside of Denver International Airport on Thursday. They are working to teach passengers about the rising number of assaults that have been happening on commercial flights.

The Transport Workers Union claims there are reports of five unruly passengers per day. Their campaign is called Assault Won't Fly.

The flight attendants passed out informational flyers and want to make passengers aware of what a big issue it has become. They say it's not just physical attacks but also verbal ones.

"We are here to make sure that passengers arrive where they're supposed to go safely. We are here to make sure that we are making them comfortable and making sure that our airline is operating at its peak. But we can't do that if we're being assaulted on the aircraft at 30,000 feet," said Corliss King, TWU Local 556 Vice President. "It's a real challenge for us because we can't pull over and say 'This is unacceptable.'

"We hope that people will tap into their common behaviors are that they use on the ground, but unfortunately what happens is that people get on aircrafts and they seem to think that that's a place to behave in a manner that is unacceptable. and we're asking for the public's awareness to these issues and support for us to understand that we really just want to go home the same way we came.

The group wants Congress to pass the Protection from Abusive Passengers Act. That would reauthorize stiff penalties against passengers who assault flight attendants.

In May a Frontier Airlines passenger was cited by the Denver Police Department after she acted belligerently and assaulted a flight attendant at Denver International Airport. According to officials with the airline, the unruly passenger assaulted the employee after she was asked to deplane from a flight. An airline spokesperson said that while exiting the plane, the woman grabbed an intercom phone and began hitting the flight attendant with it. The passenger, whose identity wasn't disclosed, was cited by DPD for assault.

A fellow passenger revealed to news outlets that the disruptive passenger had attempted to switch seats. Despite being asked to return to her assigned seat, she refused to comply.