Cabin crew and airport workers across Britain will receive stronger legal protection against passenger harassment when new employment legislation comes into force on October 30, 2026.
The changes, introduced under the Employment Rights Act 2025, will place greater responsibility on airlines and other aviation employers to protect their staff from harassment by members of the public.
For cabin crew, who regularly deal with passengers in an enclosed environment, the legislation could provide an important additional safeguard, particularly when incidents involve sexual harassment, racism or other discriminatory behaviour.
Under the new rules, employers could be held legally responsible if a third party, such as a passenger, harasses an employee and the employer fails to take all reasonable steps to prevent it.
This represents a significant change to existing employment protections, which have generally made employers liable for harassment by their own staff rather than passengers or customers.
The legislation also strengthens rules introduced in October 2024 requiring employers to take reasonable steps to prevent workplace sexual harassment. From October 30, that obligation will increase to taking all reasonable steps.
What Could This Mean For Cabin Crew?
Although airlines already have procedures for dealing with disruptive passengers, the new legislation places greater emphasis on preventing harassment before it occurs, rather than simply responding afterwards.
According to guidance published by Acas, employers should assess the risks their workers face, introduce appropriate preventative measures, provide training and ensure incidents are properly recorded and investigated.
For airlines, this could mean reviewing existing policies on passenger behaviour, improving reporting procedures and strengthening the support available to cabin crew who experience harassment.
It could also encourage operators to take a closer look at how complaints are handled, particularly when crew report inappropriate touching, unwanted sexual advances or discriminatory comments from passengers.
Crucially, airlines will need to show they took all reasonable steps to prevent such incidents, rather than relying solely on measures introduced after a complaint.
This does not mean every unpleasant passenger encounter will automatically become a legal harassment case. The new protections cover sexual harassment and unwanted conduct linked to legally protected characteristics, including race, sex, age, disability, religion and sexual orientation.
General rudeness, shouting, or aggressive behaviour without a discriminatory element may not qualify under these provisions, although other workplace safety and criminal laws may apply.
Unite Demands Action Over Passenger Abuse
The changes come amid growing concern about how aviation workers are treated, as Unite’s Abuse Doesn’t Fly campaign highlights.
Launched in March 2026, the campaign followed a survey of more than 300 workers at Aberdeen, Edinburgh and Glasgow airports, which revealed widespread experiences of passenger abuse.
More than 90% of respondents reported regularly experiencing verbal abuse during the previous year, while over 75% had experienced intimidation or aggression. Almost three in ten, 29%, said they had suffered some form of physical assault.
The survey also found that 77% believed repeated abuse had affected their mental health, while 34% had considered leaving the industry altogether.
The research covered airport employees, including ground handlers, passenger service assistants, security personnel and customer service agents, rather than providing a specific measure of cabin crew experiences.
When the campaign was launched, Unite general secretary Sharon Graham responded: “Unite will not stand by and allow our members to be treated in this way.”
Unite industrial officer Carrie Donoghue also called for greater responsibility from employers, policing authorities and passengers themselves, warning that “this wave of abuse can’t go on.”
The union is calling for better security arrangements, mandatory zero-tolerance signage, improved incident reporting, additional training and access to counselling for employees affected by passenger aggression.
It also wants airlines and airports to work together to ban serious or repeat offenders, so troublesome passengers can’t simply switch to another carrier.
The campaign has attracted parliamentary attention, with Crawley MP Peter Lamb tabling Early Day Motion 639 in support of stronger measures to protect aviation workers.
A Step Forward, But Not The Complete Answer
Unite has welcomed the forthcoming third-party harassment provisions but acknowledges their limitations.
In an update to its Abuse Doesn’t Fly campaign, the union described the legislation as an important development but warned it was not a “silver bullet” for tackling disruptive passengers.
That distinction is particularly relevant to cabin crew, who can face everything from verbal insults and sexual harassment to threats and physical violence.
While the new legislation strengthens protections against legally defined harassment, it does not introduce a general ban on aggressive passengers or create new criminal penalties specifically for unruly behaviour on aircraft.
Existing aviation legislation already allows passengers responsible for serious disruption to face arrest, prosecution, fines or imprisonment. Airlines can also refuse carriage or ban individuals from future flights.
The new employment protections focus instead on employers’ responsibilities and whether they have done enough to protect their employees.
For cabin crew, that could make a difference when reporting incidents, challenging inadequate responses and seeking accountability from an airline that has failed to address known risks.
However, whether the legislation leads to meaningful changes on board will largely depend on how airlines implement it, how thoroughly they investigate incidents, and whether staff feel confident reporting harassment without fear of being dismissed or ignored.
The new measures will apply in England, Scotland and Wales. Northern Ireland has separate equality and discrimination legislation.
For those working on the frontline of aviation, October 30 will therefore mark an important change in employers’ legal responsibilities. Whether it also changes the everyday experience of dealing with difficult passengers remains to be seen.
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