I’m an ex-Emirates flight attendant – and this is the psychological technique cabin crew are taught to calm passengers down

Witnessing a bout of air rage is never pleasant, but a former flight attendant has revealed something that will provide some comfort: that cabin crew are trained to employ a psychological negotiation technique to calm persistently problematic passengers.

Ex-Emirati flight attendant Marika Mikusova, who has written three Diary of a Flight Attendant books about the five years she worked at an altitude of 10,000 meters, revealed to MailOnline Travel that the technique bears the abbreviation LEAP. These letters indicate the four phases of the method: ‘listening, empathizing, asking and paraphrasing’.

During the first phase, the flight attendant is all ears.

Czech Marika, 35, explains: ‘First we listen carefully to the passenger without interrupting him. If the passenger is seated, it is a good idea to crouch down so that he or she does not feel that we have a psychological advantage by looking down on him or her as if we were their parent, teacher, or other authority figure. Smart, huh?

“So when you see a kneeling flight attendant in the aisle who doesn’t smile, but listens attentively to the passenger and nods every now and then, you know what it’s about.”

Is the nodding important? Yes, it shows empathy (phase two).

Marika, who lives in Prague, says: ‘By nodding we let the passenger know that we understand their anger and would like to solve the problem.’

Body language is also crucial.

Marika continues: ‘It is difficult for the passenger to believe that we are trying to find a solution if, for example, we keep our arms folded.

‘By the way, just listening and not interrupting is often enough to let the passenger vent his frustration and not let it escalate further.’

What if the passenger is still furious? It’s time for the next phase: ask.

Marika says: ‘We can ask the passenger open-ended questions – for example ‘what’, ‘where’, ‘when’ – to get to the heart of the problem. The advantage of this is that the complainant is given the opportunity to fully express his feelings.’

Marika, pictured in Dubai, reveals cabin crew ‘listen, empathise, ask and paraphrase’ when it comes to irate passengers

Diary of A Flight Attendant is a behind-the-scenes look at what it’s really like to work at 38,000 feet

Then it’s time to summarize.

“In the end we play a kindergarten teacher,” says Marika. “So we summarize the information the passenger spit out to us to let him or her know that we have been listening the whole time and understand their point. Meanwhile, the passenger nods or corrects us if necessary.

‘Most people are incredibly relieved at the moment. The passenger feels like a winner. Even though we are completely exhausted. But at least we might have prevented something worse: swearing, physical aggression, destruction of the plane. You never know.’

And if the passenger is seriously aggressive?

“For those who are aggressive, we have actions, not words – and useful equipment in our mounting package,” says Marika.

Marika Mikusova’s book Diary of a Flight Attendant is out now. Click here to order a copy. You can find Marika on Instagram here.