American Airlines has had better days. Delays and canceled flights have soared in recent months; the airline says it’s disgruntled pilots while the pilots says it’s crappy old jets that need constant repair. Regardless of who is to blame, the AA employees working at airport gates say that stranded passengers are channeling their anger into violence at the nearest person in an American uniform.

“Guy took a swing at me, over the counter,” one gate agent tells Dallas-Forth Worth’s channel 11 news. “Took a swing at me, missed my nose by literally a quarter of an inch, half inch?”

Regarding stories like this one, where travelers on American complain about gate agents suddenly vanishing from the area, leaving travelers without anyone to answer their questions, one agent says it’s about keeping yourself out of harm’s way.

“Because if you don’t, it’s going to become violent,” explains the agent. “One of my buddies the other day, international flight cancelled, she’s on the jet bridge crying, because there’s nothing she can do.”

The agents won’t say who they think is more to blame in this mess — after all, they need to work with these people so they probably can’t afford to aggravate anyone by picking a side — but they do say that AA management has worked to make things a bit better in the last week.

The question is, will the problems be resolved by the time people start flying for the holidays?

Says one agent, “With the holidays coming up, we’re hoping good will toward men will kick in somewhere.”

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