THE aviation industry has strong safety and security training requirements, but these need to evolve alongside the changing risks faced by frontline personnel, says Malaysia Aviation Skills Standard Association president Dr Nur Zairahtul Amirah Kamallazim.
Citing data from the International Air Transport Association on unruly passenger incidents involving more than 140 operators worldwide, she said non-compliance with crew instructions was the most common type of incident in 2025, alongside verbal abuse.
This highlights the concern posed by disruptive passenger behaviour in the aviation industry, she noted.
“Preparation therefore cannot be limited to knowing procedures.
“Aviation personnel need the confidence and practical competency to recognise risk, communicate under pressure, de-escalate situations and know when a situation has crossed the threshold from customer service into a safety or security matter,” she said.
Nur Zairahtul Amirah, who is an industry expert in the development of occupational standards and certification pathways for the aviation service workforce in Malaysia, has played a role in establishing structured competency frameworks for cabin crew under the National Occupational Skills Standards system.
She said these competencies include emotional regulation, crew coordination and knowing when to escalate an incident.
“The crew should also be trained to identify early warning signs such as increasing agitation, threatening language, intimidation, refusal to follow safety instructions and invasion of personal space,” she said.
Nur Zairahtul Amirah called for stronger collaboration between universities, aviation training institutions and employers, including using anonymised real-world incidents to develop training scenarios and identify emerging skills gaps.
“Malaysia has an opportunity to develop a stronger lifelong competency ecosystem for aviation professionals, where education does not end when someone receives their initial qualification or completes airline training.
“This is also where Malaysia’s technical and vocational education and training and skills-certification ecosystem can complement conventional aviation training by recognising occupational competency and providing structured pathways for continuous professional development,” she said.
Continuous professional development, she stressed, is important to ensure aviation professionals keep their skills up to date, as the industry needs stronger systems to respond to evolving risks and real-world situations.
Employers, she added, must make clear that customer service has boundaries and that staff safety comes first.
“There must be a culture where employees feel confident reporting threats, harassment or abuse without believing that these experiences are simply ‘part of the job’.
“Protecting employees and delivering excellent customer service are not competing objectives. A safe and supported workforce is better positioned to protect passengers and deliver professional service,” she said.
For young people considering cabin crew careers, she said they should understand that the job is fundamentally a safety-critical profession, not simply about hospitality or travel.
“Proper training creates confidence. The objective is not to teach cabin crew to confront passengers but how to recognise risk early, prevent situations from escalating, work effectively as a crew and respond appropriately when safety is threatened,” she said.
