When a Shanghai Airlines passenger in March slapped a flight attendant's face when she was told that her flight was listed as the fifth in line for a takeoff, a rare thing occurred. The passenger was arrested by airport police and detained for five days. Flight attendants in China are commonly the focal point for passengers angry at delays or inconveniences. Often the brunt of verbal and physical assaults few of their attackers are charged or taken to court.

In 2007 the city of Dalian saw the country's very first civil lawsuit over an attack on a flight attendant. The attacker had struck a flight attendant in the back with her handbag when she was angry because of a delayed flight and was ordered to pay compensation of 4,371 yuan ($706) and was held in detention for 15 days.

Last August, a Guangzhou-based drunken military officer attacked a China Southern Airlines flight attendant over carry-on luggage. His boorish behavior was publicized when the victim published the attack on her Sina Weibo account. Pictures of her torn uniform and bruised arms quickly went viral and sparked public uproar. The officer was publicly shamed but not disciplined, according to reports.

Most attacks on flight attendants in China go unreported and unpunished. "I have seen many unreasonable attacks since I started working," fifth-year flight attendant with China Southern Airlines, Bai, told the Global Times. "They usually involve verbal abuse and sometimes physical assaults." She, like most of her colleagues, wants more protection.

Not encouraged

Why do rude and aggressive passengers get away with these attacks? Industry insiders suggest that Chinese airlines tend to adopt a passenger-over-crew attitude to these conflicts. "The airline is far more concerned about passengers," a flight attendant from China Southern Airlines explained. "As employees we are told to be quiet and ignore it. Formally complaining about passengers is not encouraged."

Over the years she and her colleagues have become so used to "abuse and physical bullying" that they now accept these assaults. Even if they want to take action there seems to be little they can do: there are no regulations stipulating what is acceptable behavior on aircraft. But blood or evidence of blood can be the proof needed for an attacker to be hauled before a court or public security administration for punishment. Bai said she was aware of two assaults where flight attendants had been left bleeding. On both occasions airport police arrested the attackers and charged them.

Airline companies actually try to prohibit flight attendants taking any assaults to civil court. The few that persist in civil court complaints are given a hard time at work, other attendants say. If they are not fired outright, the airlines put these attendants under pressure, making them work "red-eye" shifts or with over scrupulous section heads. Most quit because of this.

While flight attendants cannot easily file complaints, the passengers can. If a valued passenger, a gold or silver club member, complains about a flight attendant, the attendant is immediately fined 500 yuan, according to flight attendants from several major airline companies.

And they are ordered by the airline to make a formal apology to the passenger. "We are the ones who have to apologize no matter how unfounded the complaint might be," said one flight attendant surnamed Liu from a northern airline.

"This is usually done under the close supervision of the chief attendant." Bai agreed. "Senior staff watch us write letters or make phone calls to make sure that we apologize."

A softer attitude

Shanghai-based budget airline Spring Airlines spokesman Zhang Wu'an said his company had a softer approach towards flight attendants who were involved in passenger incidents. "Of course we don't permit them to reciprocate in any way - they work in the service industry after all," Zhang said. "But we never expect them to apologize to passengers if they have not been the cause of the dispute."

Zhang said that Spring Airlines banned any passengers who assaulted or abused flight attendants from traveling with the airline. But to date there are no passengers listed as banned.

Shanghai Airlines, the carrier involved in the slapping case, declined media interviews. Bai said flight attendants from that airline had told her that that the company had wanted the case over as quickly as possible. "The company was worried that supporting the crew could push prospective passengers away."

When the Global Times called China Eastern Airlines and asked about the rights of flight attendants, marketing official Luo Anping said there were no suitable people available for comment.

Why are Chinese airlines so sweet - to their passengers and not their flight crews? Zhang Qihuai, a prominent civil aviation lawyer and the executive vice president of the Beijing Civil Aviation Law Association, said most Chinese airlines were far too money-oriented. "True, it is the priority for airlines to provide quality service. But at the same time they are too money-driven and do not mind gaining income at the expense of their flight attendants' dignity, and physical and psychological well-being."

Many Sina Weibo users have questioned whether airlines consider their flight crews' emotional health or offer psychological counseling. Flight attendants from a range of airlines said this has never been offered.

But Spring Airlines claimed it offered sessions that "facilitate the training, communications, and psychological well-being of flight attendants" two to three times a year. "A strong mental attitude, like being able to compose oneself when dealing with abusive and stressful passengers, is developed by implementing better training in basic service skills," said spokesman Zhang.

He added that when flight attendants knew how to serve passengers properly, there would be very few conflicts. He said that teamwork helped - there were six or seven members in a flight crew and vulnerable attendants didn't have to be involved if there were conflicts.

The website woes

It's not just abusive passengers that cause problems on aircraft in China. Flight attendants have to deal with sexual harassment, theft and smoking. Because airlines rarely support flight attendants when they have to deal with these problems, the attendants have turned for help to social media.

Many go to Sina Weibo. One complaint, published on March 30, was reposted more than 9,000 times. According to the flight attendant, passengers from her last flight had walked off with seven blankets. "For each blanket taken I have 80 yuan deducted from my pay," she wrote. "Please return the blankets otherwise I will have worked for nothing today."

Ironically, on the same platform, several people admitted taking blankets from aircraft. One man who admitted taking a blanket from the flight wrote that he now realized that "taking blankets revealed low moral standards and was unfair to the flight attendants." He said he would send the blanket back but more than a week later the attendant had not seen any blankets returned.

Not only is this online platform apparently ineffective - it could be under surveillance. Bai said that after the China Southern Airlines flight attendant posted pictures of the assault by the officer on Sina Weibo, creating headlines throughout the country, airlines set up special sections to monitor Weibo accounts. If an airline discovers a report from a flight attendant, the attendant is likely to be called in and "counseled" with a view to having them delete the report.

Another flight attendant from China Southern Airlines told the Global Times that a Sina Weibo account her colleague used to publicize incidents of passenger misbehavior was taken over by the airline. The latest post on "her" account said the abusive officer and his wife had "made a sincere apology to me" and the case had been "properly handled."

Lacking guidance

The websites of the major Chinese airlines (Air China, China Eastern Airlines and China Southern Airlines) reveal no guidance for passengers on in-flight behavior.

Other international airlines like American Airlines, Royal Air Maroc, and the International Airline of Afghanistan explain passengers' responsibilities clearly on their websites. Passengers using these airlines who threaten, abuse, or insult the flight crew, consume alcohol or drugs, or smoke, can be restrained and removed from the flight.

But Spring Airlines spokesman Zhang Wu'an could not see this advice being given by a Chinese airline. "How can we tell passengers what they should do on our planes? We're just offering them electronic service contracts."

Since Chinese airlines avoid trying to regulate passengers' behaviors, lawyer Zhang said one solution might be to remove the loopholes in the country's current civil aviation laws. "China was a latecomer to the civil aviation industry, at the beginning of which it was very rare for passengers to assault flight attendants. As the civil aviation law has never been revised since it was introduced 20 years ago, it is very out-of-date and fails to address the problems that have arisen over the years."

Zhang believed the introduction of updated laws with clear-cut standards, which clarify the conduct, rights and responsibilities of both sides, would solve the problem. "Once what is not tolerable is stated, I think more than 99 percent of Chinese passengers will behave," Zhang said.

"This is just like the 'no water on board' regulation, which everyone now follows - Chinese passengers are not rule breakers by nature, but the rules must be explained to everyone."

On the other hand, the rights of passengers have to be clarified as well. Many of the conflicts and assaults are caused by frustrations with flight delays, cancelations and a lack of information. To lessen these frustrations, Zhang said regulations have to state clearly when and how passengers can be compensated if things go wrong.

However, it might be a long time before the law is revised. The Civil Aviation Administration of China works under the Ministry of Transport and Communications, and cannot itself introduce new regulations - proposals will have to be submitted to the State Council to be considered.

When the Global Times contacted the Law, Policy and Regulation Department of the Civil Aviation Administration, officers there declined to comment on whether a law revision was being considered.