An American airline company has sent a memo to its staff telling them not to use duct-tape to detain unruly customers following incidents where flight attendants tied up passengers.

The memo from United Airlines reminded cabin crew to "address difficult situations calmly" and to use "designated items".

It clearly stated: "Alternative measures such as tape should never be used."

This comes as shocking footage emerged of a 13-year-old boy being restrained on an American Airlines flight and duct-taped to his seat.

The teen had allegedly tried to kick a window and assaulted his mum while the plane was flying between Maui and Los Angeles, according to CBSN.

The Airbus A321 took off at 12:44 pm and the teen is said to have started his outburst an hour into the flight, causing the plane to be diverted to Honolulu.

American Airlines flight attendants also recently restrained a woman with tape after she tried to open the plane’s doors during a flight.

In the memo, staff were also told to follow their "regular de-escalation and training process" and to always use their "best judgment", implying that they should not tie up travelers like hostages.

United Airlines encouraged staff not to use rogue methods of restraining customers, but rather to deal with difficult situations using the "huddle process", speaking to the captain and other senior staff members.

The recent incident involving the 13-year-old boy was not the first time an incident has occured onboard one of the airline's planes.

In 2003, an man on an American Airlines flight from Dallas Fort Worth, Texas to Charlotte, North Carolina was forcibly tied to her seat back in July, according to the Napa Valley Register.

A fellow passenger said the man had been "pacing and reading the Bible" and had become "agitated".

In 2008, The Seattle Times reported American Airlines had also duct-taped a woman on a flight from Puerto Rico to Chicago after she struck a flight attendant on the buttocks with the back of her hand.

Earlier this month, an angry passenger who “touched two flight attendants’ breasts” and claimed that his parents were worth two million dollars before punching a member of airline staff was taped to his seat on a Frontier Airlines flight.

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