HONG KONG, China - Hong Kong Airlines in China has recommended all new flight attendant trainees take martial arts classes to help them to handle disorderly passengers.
One of the classes offered, called Wing Chun, will teach the flight attendants close range combat.The flight attendants will also learn different self defense techniques.
One of the martial arts instructors, Katherine Cheung, said this class was suitable for flight attendant trainees for a variety of reasons.
"Wing Chun was designed for women, it was designed by a woman for women, and the second reason is because Wing Chun can be used in confined spaces," Cheung said. "Like some other martial arts use very big movements, it would be really difficult to do it in that space."
A spokeswoman for Hong Kong Airlines, Eva Chan, said the classes will help flight attendants protect passengers in an emergency situation.
"The training would help to enhance the general fitness of crew members as well as helping them deal with unruly passengers," Chan said.
