The German union for independent flight attendants UFO said Tuesday that sexual harassment in the industry was a "serious problem."
"It happens to men as well, although women are harassed more frequently," said Sylvia Gassner, who has been tasked by the union with the issue for the past two years. "It is a serious problem, one that is too often ignored."
There are hardly any figures on victims of sexual harassment in the industry, although UFO published a report in May that found that one in two crew members had been sexually harassed at their workplace.
 Most instances of harassment occurred on board the plane, the survey found. In 45 per cent of cases, the perpetrator was the flight attendant's superior, such as a pilot.
In a quarter of cases, the flight attendants said they were harassed by staff members of the same rank or by passengers. The survey was criticized for being openly accessible on UFO's website. However, Gassner said that the survey, which had more than 1,000 respondents, was "consistent with the reports I have received from colleagues."
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