Witnessing a bout of air rage is never pleasant, but one former flight attendant has revealed something that will bring some comfort – that cabin crew have been trained to deploy a psychological negotiation technique to calm persistently problematic passengers down.
![[Marika, pictured in Dubai, reveals that cabin crew 'listen, empathise, ask and paraphrase' when dealing with air rage passengers]](https://i.dailymail.co.uk/1s/2024/12/20/18/93362707-14214973-image-a-112_1734721041687.jpg)
Ex-Emirates flight attendant Marika Mikusova, who has written three Diary Of A Flight Attendant books about the five years she spent working at 38,000ft, revealed to MailOnline Travel that the technique goes by the acronym L.E.A.P. These letters denote the four stages of the method – 'listen, empathise, ask and paraphrase'.
During the first stage, the flight attendant is all ears. Czech Marika, 35, explains: 'First, we listen carefully to the passenger without interrupting them. If the passenger is sitting down, it is a good idea to crouch down so that he or she does not feel that we have a psychological advantage by standing and looking down at them as if we were their parent, teacher or any authority figure. Clever, huh?.
'So, if you see a kneeling flight attendant in the aisle who isn't smiling but just listening attentively to the passenger and occasionally nodding, you know what it is all about.'. Is the nodding important? Yes, it shows empathy (stage two). Ex-Emirates flight attendant Marika Mikusova (above) has revealed the technique cabin crew are taught to calm down angry passengers.
