Fliers getting nastier
Masks, booze bring out worst in passengers: FAA
Federal safety officials are seeing a spike in reports of dangerously disruptive airline passengers and midair meltdowns.
The Federal Aviation Administration has gotten some 1,300 reports of unruly passengers from airlines since February, an FAA spokesman told the Daily News on Monday. Of these, the FAA has identified potential violations in about 260 cases.
Over the last decade, the FAA has typically pursued about 100 to 150 legal enforcement actions in a given year, the spokesman said.
Even though passenger traffic remains well below pre-pandemic levels, in-flight misbehavior is sky high, with booze frequently a factor, as well as passengers refusing to wear masks to protect against COVID-19 transmission.
FAA spokesman Steve Dickson said in January the agency had noticed a “disturbing increase” in incidents of “threatening or violent behavior” from airline passengers.
He said the disruptive behavior “stemmed both from passengers’ refusals to wear masks and from recent violence at the U.S. Capitol,” a reference to the Jan. 6 attack.
Last week, the FAA announced it was pursuing a civil penalty of $31,750 against a passenger on a Jan. 4 JetBlue flight from Haiti to Boston. The passenger allegedly drank his own “personal alcohol” stash before creating a verbal and physical disturbance.
“This passenger grabbed the arms of two separate flight attendants during the flight, and the cabin crew needed to reseat surrounding passengers,” the FAA said. Police escorted the passenger off the plane, the agency said.
Another passenger on a Jan. 14 SkyWest flight from Arizona to Dallas allegedly consumed “multiple 50 ml bottles of his own alcohol” before he “tried to touch” other passengers, leading two off-duty law enforcement officers to “physically wrestle him back into his seat,” the FAA reported. That man is facing a proposed civil penalty of $14,500, the safety administration said.
More recently, an Alaska state senator who opposes COVID-19 restrictions was banned from Alaska Airlines for refusing to wear a mask while flying. State Sen. Lora Reinbold, a Republican, was issued the no-fly order by airline management after she resisted multiple requests by staff to abide by its policies requiring masks.
“She is not permitted to fly with us for her continued refusal to comply with employee instruction regarding the current mask policy,” spokesman Tim Thompson told the Anchorage Daily News.
The FAA has a range of options when it comes to dealing with disruptive passengers, including letting the individual off with a formal warning, an offer of counseling or the imposition of civil penalties.
“These recent events show that a change in our policy is necessary,” Dickson said in January.
He signed a “zero tolerance” order instructing his staff to vigorously pursue legal action against any passenger who assaults, threatens, intimidates or interferes with airline crew members. A former airline captain, Dickson said he found the increase in bad behavior “extremely concerning.”
Former flight attendant Angela Hagedorn tweeted about the Reinbold incident and said it was the type of behavior that fueled her recent resignation.
“It has been an exhausting time for all the employees who are just trying to do their job according to their company’s policies,” she tweeted. “The constant arguing and pushback from guests, it’s ridiculous.”