Every now and then, even flight attendants on major U.S. airlines need a friendly little reminder on what to do during a flight. 

You know, things like, make the safety announcements, remind passengers to wear their mask, hand out soft drinks and pretzels, demonstrate how to put on a seat belt, and in the case of United Airlines, avoid duct taping passengers. 

Yes, it’s come to that.  Newsweek got a hold of a memo that was sent by John Slater, senior VP for inflight services for United to staff members at United. Here’s what part of it said.

“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.”

“As you’ve likely seen, a few airlines have recently made news about the way they’ve handled situations onboard. The overwhelming majority of our customers have been on their best behavior throughout the pandemic and returned to our flights with confidence and enthusiasm.” 

What he was referencing was incidents that occurred on American Airlines and Frontier Airlines. 

In one instance, a 22 year old woman was taped to the back of a seat on a Frontier flight earlier this month. 

In July, a woman went off the deep end on an American Airlines flight, and the crew had to duct tape her to a seat after she attacked a flight attendant and then tried to open the door of the plane. 

As for what “alternative measures” might be more appropriate?  United didn’t elaborate. 

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