The US government and airlines are looking into more strict measures to deal with increasing numbers of unruly air passengers, including a shared no-fly list, sales of to-go alcohol at airports, and even federal criminal prosecution.
The new proposed measures come less than a week after the US Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) urged the country’s airlines to come up with new solutions to address the issue.
The FAA said that unruly passenger incidents were occurring approximately six times per 10,000 flights as of last week.
Sara Nelson, international president of the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA)-CWA, as well as other flight attendants, recently called on the US government, airlines, and airports to do more regarding the issue of increased unruly passenger incidents during a congressional hearing specifically on the issue.
"This behavior is from a small percentage of the traveling public," Rep. Rick Larsen, D-Wash., chair of the aviation subcommittee, said at the hearing, according to USA Today.
"But, it is disgusting, it is unacceptable and it is a danger to fellow passengers, crew and the entire U.S. aviation system. Congress, the federal government and the aviation industry must work together to protect airline crews, airport staff and the traveling public from passenger outbursts."
The proposal includes measures such as a ban on to-go alcohol at the airport, shared passenger no-fly lists among American air carriers, and a federal criminal prosecution of the most egregious cases, among others.
This already follows other measures already implemented to address the issue, such as when the TSA doubled fines for pax who refused to wear a mask, or when the FAA published a service announcement in an effort to tell passengers to behave. Even still, the FAA reported in AUG that it had reached a new record of USD $1m in fines issued for cases of air rage.
Stricter Measures on Alcohol Sales
As reported by Skift, Chair of the House Committee on Transportation Peter De Fazio said one contributing factor is to-go cups of alcohol sold at airports.
"That is literally encouraging people to break the law: Get a great big to-go cup with four shots in it and take it on the airplane," he said. "So that needs to end."
On the other hand, Christopher Bidwell, senior vice president of safety for Airports Council International in North America, pushed back on the notion saying that numbers from the FAA say that only 6 per cent of unruly passenger incidents involve alcohol and that it is hard to trace where drunk passengers may have gotten intoxicated.
A Shared No-Fly List
Delta Air Lines recently asked other US airlines to share their no-fly lists with the carrier, as Kristen Manion Taylor, Delta’s senior vice president of in-flight service said “a list of banned customers doesn’t work as well if that customer can fly with another airline.”
According to Forbes, lists such as these have usually been kept for airlines’ internal use only, but Delta’s proposal seeks to change this.
Nelson recounted an incident where an unruly passenger was banned from one airline, got off the flight and caught a flight on another air carrier and "continued to be a problem on the next flight."
However, there may be some legal and operational challenges to implementing a shared list, according to Lauren Breyer, Airlines for America’s spokesperson. A proposed solution to this particular problem is a shared FAA database all American carriers could access.
Criminal Charges
According to Nelson, the prospect of potential jail time recommended for extreme cases of air rage, would send a strong message to other passengers that such behavior is not tolerated.
The US Department of Justice (DOJ), had only taken one case so far, with criminal charges filed against a Southwest Airlines passenger in early SEP where an employee lost their teeth, according to USA Today.
"There are many cases that DOJ could take up and we need DOJ to take more more aggressive action," Nelson said.
Getting Tough is Already Paying Off
As these new measures are proposed, the FAA notes that earlier steps are already having some impact, as the number of unruly passenger incidents in the US has dropped to about half since JAN 2021.
It still remains double the rate of late 2020.
"Our work is having an impact and the trend is moving in the right direction. But we need the progress to continue," FAA administrator Steve Dickson said.
Dickson said the agency will continue to enforce the zero-tolerance policy on air rage incidents where the FAA will not issue warning letters and proceed straight to enforcement.
