The following is our initial draft programme against which we are inviting speakers and encouraging responses to our Call for Papers. If you are interested in speaking, please indicate which session you feel your proposed presentation will best fit in.
The Call for Papers is open until 5th November. We anticipate that we will notify those who offers have been accepted by 8th November and that the first draft programme will be online by 11th November 2026.
To view the programmes of our previous conferences – and see the speakers who have addressed them – please click HERE
SESSION 1: THE CHALLENGE
Is Alcohol a Scapegoat? What’s Really the Problem?
Looking beyond the conventional narrative and examining what is actually driving unruly passenger behaviour.
Statistics, Statistics! Are We Measuring the Problem Correctly?
What do the numbers really tell us? Are different airlines, airports and regulators measuring the same thing? And are we capturing the incidents that matter?
Time for Introspection? Is Industry Fuelling the Scourge of Unruly Behaviour?
Are airline, airport and passenger-service practices inadvertently creating the conditions for confrontation? Delays, expectations, advertising, inconsistent enforcement, boarding processes and the passenger experience.
SESSION 2: WE KNOW THERE’S A PROBLEM… WHAT’S THE SOLUTION?
Moving the Problem Upstream: Can We Prevent an Incident Before Boarding?
Identifying risk and intervening at check-in, in the lounge, at the gate and during boarding.
No-Fly Lists: Deterrent, Safety Tool or Legal Minefield?
In-company, in-country or international? Who should be banned, for how long, on what evidence and who gets to decide?
Responsible Service of Alcohol: Beyond “Don’t Serve the Drunk Passenger”
Airports, lounges, duty-free and onboard: where does responsibility begin and end?
The Legal Gap: Why Do Some Passengers Simply Walk Away?
Jurisdiction, enforcement, prosecution and the challenge of holding offenders accountable.
SESSION 3: BEYOND DE-ESCALATION
Conflict Management: Is It Truly Trainable?
What works, what doesn’t, and how should crew be trained to recognise the point at which communication is no longer working?
Dear Passenger: Warning Letters from the Captain
What passengers don’t understand about the decisions being made onboard. Does a warning letter exacerbate the problem? Or can they help de-escalate tension?
Bystander Intervention: What Can We Ask Fellow Passengers to Do?
Can passengers safely assist crew? What can they reasonably be asked to do and what/where are the legal and operational boundaries?
SESSION 4: USE OF FORCE
Reasonable Force: What Does “Reasonable” Actually Mean?
The legal, operational and evidential tests surrounding physical intervention.
Realistic Training: Preparing Crew for Physical Intervention
Are airlines training for the situations crews actually encounter or simply training people to pass a course?
Post-Restraint Monitoring: Technology to the Rescue
Managing the passenger after restraint: monitoring, documentation, medical considerations and the emerging role of technology.
SESSION 5: CHALLENGING PASSENGERS
Deportee Management: Safely, Securely and Ethically
Managing passengers who may be unwilling to travel while protecting crew, other passengers and the individual concerned.
Neurodiversity & Mental Health: Safety Risk or Misidentified Behaviour?
Distinguishing genuine safety risks from behaviour arising from disability, distress or medical/psychological conditions.
Hijackers in the Crosshairs: Are We Still Prepared for the Worst?
Where does an unruly passenger incident end and an attempted takeover begin? Are today’s crews prepared to recognise and respond to the full spectrum of threats?
SESSION 6: EVIDENCE
The Passenger with a Smartphone: Friend, Foe or Evidence Collector?
Inflight photography and video: invaluable evidence, privacy challenge or both?
Passengers as Witnesses: The Implications and the Consequences
What happens when fellow passengers become witnesses? How should airlines preserve, obtain and use their evidence?
Voyage Reports: Testimony That Will Stand Up in Court
Crafting crew incident reports that are accurate, contemporaneous, consistent and capable of supporting enforcement action.
Inflight CCTV: Is It Overdue?
What would cabin/body-worn CCTV change? Safety, deterrence, investigation and prosecution …and the privacy implications.
SESSION 7: FROM CABIN TO COURT
On the Flight Deck: Securing the Appropriate Response
Pilot training, decision-making, diversion, communication and the commander’s responsibilities.
On the Ground: What Do the Police Need to Know?
What information and evidence does law enforcement need when an aircraft arrives with an unruly passenger?
Back at HQ: Conducting an Effective Airline Investigation
Preserving evidence, interviewing crew, reviewing recordings, establishing the facts and preparing the case.
Into Court: What Makes an Unruly Passenger Case Prosecutable?
A practical look at the final stage of the process and why apparently straightforward cases sometimes fail.
SESSION 8: AIRLINE INNOVATION
Three Airlines. Three Approaches. What Are They Doing Differently?
Short presentations from airlines tackling unruly passenger behaviour in different ways.