Airline workers booed for aiding passenger

BRISBANE, Australia, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- Passengers checking in at the Qantas counter at one Australian airport showed their anger by booing staffers who assisted an elderly heart attack victim.

Airline staffers told the Brisbane Courier-Mail that they are used to being the target of passenger frustration.

"The Qantas terminal at Brisbane Airport is chronically understaffed," said Julie Bignell of the Australian Services Union. "We've been trying for two years to have staffing levels improved, but they've actually decreased."

On the day that an 80-year-old woman collapsed in the check-in line only half the the usual number of check-in positions were open, Bignell said. Two staffers closed their positions and tried to help her, joined by two doctors.

The woman died.

Bignell said that when check-in employees end their shifts they are sometimes booed and spat on if the lines are long when they leave.