After several airlines recently made headlines for duct-taping unruly passengers to their seats, United Airlines is reminding its employees that it doesn’t endorse the tactic.
In an internal memo sent to employees and obtained by NBC News on Friday, United warned its flight crew never to use duct tape when restraining unruly passengers.
“Please remember that there are designated items onboard that may be used in difficult situations, and alternative measures such as tape should never be used,” John Slater, senior vice president of inflight services, told United’s staff.
“As you’ve likely seen, a few airlines have recently made news about the way they’ve handled situations onboard,” Slater added, reminding employees to de-escalate “difficult situations calmly,” including “discussing the situation with the Captain, Customer Service Representative and Ground Security Coordinator”.
United’s memo arrives amid a recent uptick in incidents where flight attendants have used duct tape in an attempt to restrain unruly travelers.
American Airlines made headlines in July after its staff tape-restrained a woman after she allegedly started to bite, spit, and attack the flight attendants. American told the New York Post that a woman “attempted to open the forward boarding door” mid-flight and was ultimately restrained “for the safety and security of other customers and our crew.”
Another incident from July involved a man on Frontier Airlines who had to be restrained after allegedly groping and punching flight attendants. A viral video captured the man—since identified as 22-year-old Maxwell Berry—hysterically screaming and hitting a flight attendant before ultimately being taped to his seat.
Earlier this month, a 13-year-old boy was the latest unruly passenger that flight attendants had to restrain with duct tape after the teen threw a tantrum and fought with his mother aboard an American Airlines flight from Maui to Los Angeles.
