An unexpected consequence of the pandemic has been an increase in air rage - at least in the U.S. – and Canada’s airlines are bracing for the possibility of similar spikes in the numbers of unruly passengers when air travel finally returns to this country.
But why are passengers losing it so much more often aboard flights?
Many reported incidents of unruly passengers appear to have arisen from rules that require pax to wear face masks while on board flights. The Washington Post reports that the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released an update on 24MAY, that revealed, of its 2,500 reports of bad behaviour in the U.S., this year, about 1,900 of them involved masks.
That’s 80 per cent of air rage incidents stemming from anti-mask sentiment getting out of control.
Push back against mask mandates is being attributed by CNN to political polarization, and right leaning passengers disagreeing with the federal mandate, hand in hand with a rejection of the advice from science and medical professionals that airlines follow to keep passengers and crew safe.
Reports of bad behaviour can sometimes lead to judgments of actual violations occurring, and those numbers are also revealing. The FAA says that in all of 2019 and 2020, there were just 146 and 183 actual "unruly passenger" violations.
This year, just up to 25MAY, the agency has already recorded 394 potential violations, representing a significant uptick in pax behaving badly enough that the FAA determines the rules have been broken.
CNN notes, “those who engage in unruly behavior could be far more than being just escorted off a flight. The FAA's "zero-tolerance" policy for such conduct has resulted in the agency seeking fines of $9,000 to $15,000 against individual passengers.”
While Canadians have not resumed flying yet, and this country has seen less rejection of new safety requirements like masking and social distancing, Canadian airlines are nonetheless preparing for similar instances aboard flights in this country when travel returns in a greater capacity after months of reduced levels due to COVID-19.
As reported by Open Jaw, Canadian airlines say they’re prepared to handle bad behaviour on board. Timothy Perry, president of Air Line Pilots Association Canada noted that flight crew training does involve de-escalation strategies to protect the safety of crew members and passengers in the event of a disturbance. WestJet also said that while unruly situations are “extremely rare,” flight crews are trained to manage such incidents.
Oh please do not quote CNN! The people I have seen with air rage are usually the low-end traveler and left leaning.