CHENNAI: Tempertantrums, drunken rants, physical and verbal abuse by passengers are occupational hazards for flight attendants, especially women, of all airlines. Air India alone recorded 387 instances of passengers behaving indecently with cabin crew in the past five years, according to data provided by the national carrier in response to an RTI query. The airline registered 36 complaints till May this year.The nature of harassment varies, with some passengers taking photographs of flight attendants with or without their knowledge. In August 2013, a passenger went around clicking pictures of a flight attendant and refused to listen to her pleas to stop, when asked.One drunk passenger on an Air India flight on April 25 grew boisterous and created a scene by proposing to a flight attendant. In another instance, a passenger demanded that a flight attendant change her sari and dress up like he directed."Some passengers yell at us and demand that we serve them liquor," said Neha Sharma (name changed), a flight attendant with Air India. "When you are subjected to such harassment in front of others, it can be very embarrassing.""I think some passengers don't understand what our job involves," she said. "We just learn to be very patient."There is no comprehensive data of all cases of flyer harassment of cabin crew, but the total number of cases is likely to be well in excess of 1,000 over the past five years, given that Air India's market share is currently less than 19%, an official at Chennai airport said.Officials of the ministry of civil aviation said there is zero tolerance for misbehaviour with crew members. "We have taken action against passengers who misbehaved with cabin crew in all reported cases," an official said.But a former flight attendant said officials do not take all cases of harassment seriously. "Most abusive passengers get away even when the matter is reported," she said.Airlines usually direct cabin crew members to issue a warning to a passenger who misbehaves. If a flyer gets out of control, they are at liberty to restrain him with whatever device or material is available on board.In what a reflection of how traumatic harassment by passengers can be, not a single flight attendant has withdrawn a complaint.