The incidence of “unruly” airline passengers in the USA has significantly declined since the height of the Covid-19 pandemic, though the Federal Aviation Administration continues to refer cases to the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
The FAA on 21 August reported that “the rate of unruly passenger incidents has dropped by over 80% since record highs in early 2021, but unacceptable behaviour continues”.
So far this year, the FAA says airlines have reported 1,240 cases of disruptive passengers. By comparison, between January and September 2021 the FAA had reported 4,385 such incidents, the agency said at the time.
In-flight passenger disruptions had spiked as the air travel industry was getting back on its feet in 2021 following a near-total shutdown in the early days of the pandemic in 2020.
Travellers were returning to the skies but remained weary of catching the virus. Back then, the US Transportation Security Administration still required all passengers to wear masks, adding another layer of stress to packed cabins, and contributing to in-flight passenger troubles. The TSA required masks in response to a mask mandate issued in an executive order from President Joe Biden and a related order from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.
The FAA responded by instituting a “zero tolerance” policy and dishing out hefty fines – some in the tens of thousands of dollars – to passengers accused of airborne outbursts.
While such instances are now less common, the FAA says it has still referred 43 such cases this year to the FBI for prosecution. Those cases involve passengers who allegedly attempted to enter the cockpit and those accused of threatening and assaulting – including sexually – crew and other passengers.
Story updated on 23 August to provide more details about the TSA’s mask requirement.
