passengers have shouted down, grabbed, and struck flight attendants thousands of times since the start of a zero-tolerance policy earlier this year. in may a passenger punched a southwest airlines flight attendant causing her to lose two of her teeth, according to her union. there is no back up at 30,000 feet. that plane is in the air. that has a crew that has to deal with the issues, and it s incumbent to make sure they re fully equipped. reporter: federal officials say some passengers are fueled by alcohol, but most are fighting back over the federal transportation mask mandate which make up three quarters of all incidents reported just this year. it s so bad out there. reporter: sarah nelson of the association of flight attendants says airlines should pay their people to take these classes and the federal government should require that flight crews attend each year. we can have that muscle memory and be able to respond when someone is immediately attacking us. ready, mov
in may, a passenger punched a southwest airlines flight attendant, causing her to lose two of her teeth, according to her union. there s no backup at 30,000 feet. so that plane is in the air. that has a crew that has to deal with the issues. it s incumbent on us to make sure they re fully equipped. reporter: federal officials say some passengers are fueled by alcohol, but most are fighting back over the federal mask mandate, making up three-quarters of all incidents recorded this year. it s so bad out there. reporter: sarah nelson of the association of flight attendants say airlines should pay its people to take these classes, and the federal government should require flight crews attend each year. we can have that muscle memory and be able to respond when someone is immediately attacking us. ready, move! reporter: here, instructors are teaching techniques that could be life-saving, like pinning an attacker armed with a knife. the tsa says only a few hundred people have e
which make up three-quarters of all incidents reported just this year. it s so bad out there. reporter: sarah nelson of the association of flight attendants say airlines should pay their people take these classes and the federal government should require that they attend each year. that we have that muscle memory and be able to respond when someone is attacking us. reporter: here instructors are teaching techniques that could be lifesaving like pinning an attacker who is armed with a knife. but the tsa says only a few hundred people have enrolled in this course after it reopened training in late june. donna o neill says more like her should take this class to deal with the type of passenger becoming too common. i don t ever wanti to have t use any of this. if i have to, i certainly feel much more confident. that was pete muntean reporting. thank you all for being with us today. i ll see you back here tomorrow