Cabin crew gets martial art training to deal with unruly passengers

The airline had around three incidents involving disruptive passengers every week,Eva Chan,the carrier’s deputy general manager of corporate communication,was quoted as saying.

Two weeks ago a crew member had put her martial arts training into practice on a flight from Beijing to Hong Kong.

“One of the passengers was sick but he was probably drunk and felt unwell. The crew member attended to him and she realised her fitness was helping her,especially because the guy was quite heavy.

“Normally,a female cabin crew can’t handle a fat guy,especially if he’s drunk,but because of the training,she can handle it quite easily,” Chan said.

New recruit Lumpy Tang,22,said she never imagined kung fu would be part of the job. “We were surprised in the beginning,but after a few lessons we really liked wing chun,” Tang told the newspaper.

Wing chun instructor Katherine Cheung said the martial art was ideal for airline crews. “Wing chun can be used in small,confined spaces so it’s suited for an airplane. It’s easy to learn but difficult to master,” she said.