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Angry over repeated flight delays, fliers last Friday resorted to violence, attacking staff at the Baiyun airport in Guangzhou and causing damage to some facilities. When the incident was reported online on Monday, most netizens condemned the violence even as they accused the airport managers of failing to placate properly the frustrated passengers. The violence certainly deserves to be condemned and the police were right to detain three of the troublemakers. The authorities, however, have no right to shift the blame on to passengers. The airlines and airport officials must take sole responsibility for the incident. The delays were caused by bad weather. Thunderstorms and torrential rains hit southern Guangdong province last Thursday and Friday, grounding nearly 300 flights at the Baiyun airport in the provincial capital of Guangzhou. Thousands of passengers were stranded for as long as 20 hours. The airport management said they had taken enough measures to help the passengers and blamed "a small number of passengers" for rampaging through the waiting areas, smashing computers, telephones and security equipment and wounding 20 airport workers. According to media reports, the airport and some airlines did take some measures, such as offering food and water and apologizing for the delay, to placate the passengers. So, why did some passengers act violently? The problem lies in the attitude with which the airport management and airlines handled the matter. | 
