Russian Airline Will Enroll Its Staff In Martial Arts Classes To Protect Them From Violent Passengers

Due to numerous violent attacks made by passengers on a Russian airline's employees, plans are now being made for staff members to learn martial arts. The move made by the airline aims to handle situations when aggressive passengers become out of control.

Daily Mail reported that Pobeda Airlines, a low-cost carrier, announced of hiring an expert that would teach their team members sambo and judo. The decision was made following an incident on Feb. 10 where a passenger attacked a manager at the Vnukovo airport.

According to airline representatives, the passenger arrived late for his flight and was refused by the manager to board the plane. When the client asked for a refund and was denied, he spat on the airline staff's face and also threw punches at him.

The aggressor ran out of the office but was eventually arrested by the authorities. The airline manager suffered injuries and received medical treatment.

According to Russia Beyond The Headlines, Pobeda airlines initially thought about getting the services of a security company to address the problem but later on realized that it would cause the prices to go higher. The original plan did not push through because it would increase plane fares by two per cent.

Airline general director Andrey Kalmykov said: "We found a cheaper way to do it, and we're going to teach our staff the martial arts of sambo and judo, and therefore, we don't need to raise ticket prices." Vasily Shestakov of the International Sambo Federation has proposed that he would train the employees sambo since it's a more suitable type of martial arts given the small area of the cabins.

Judo is a type of martial arts that do not use any weapons. It's a combat sport that where a person uses holds and leverage to take down the opponent. Meanwhile, Sambo which is a shorter term for samooborona bez oruzhiya, a combat sport doesn't also use weapons and rather uses techniques like martial arts are striking, joint locking, choking, and ground fighting.