Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), wants airlines to do more for unruly passengers. They will have to take action quickly, but how?
FAA grants airlines one week to improve
According to Reuters, on Tuesday the FAA met with airlines trade groups, expressing concern about the increase in flight disturbances. We have seen almost 4,400 cases of passengers being disruptive in an airplane, with nearly 3,200 mask-related incidents. In 162 cases, the FAA initiated enforcement actions and proposed more than $1,000,000 in fines.
The FAA urged airlines this week to take additional steps to curb unruly passenger behavior during a meeting. The FAA has asked airlines and trade organizations to provide information within one week about the steps they plan to take to reduce these incidents in flight. FAA stated that additional actions by airlines and other aviation stakeholders are necessary to end the dangerous behavior.
This all happened after the FAA introduced a zero tolerance policy in 2020. They threatened to impose fines on unruly passengers and even jail time. The FAA requested that airport police arrest more disruptive passengers in August. FAA is dissatisfied by the way that airport police officers often release passengers without charging them, making it difficult for them to be held responsible.
The FAA wants airlines to do more in order to prevent incidents
I'm not sure if there are more airlines that can do this.
To be honest, I'm not convinced there is much that airlines can do. What is the FAA hoping to hear, besides airlines producing some kind of magic dust within the next week? These inflight disturbances can be attributed to masks, as you can see.
This is how I see it
The airline employees are great at mask enforcement and you won't find any public places where mask use is as consistent as they do.
Masks use has turned into a political issue for all the wrong reasons. The country is divided and people will continue to act in a way that is acceptable as long as there is a mask mandate.
Although 4,400 cases were reported this year may seem like a lot, approximately 400 million passengers have been screened by the TSA so far this year. This means that these incidents only 0.000011% of passengers.
The FAA stated that one area of improvement was for police to not immediately release people without charging them following incidents. There should also be more people facing charges or fines. In practice, the consequences have been quite limited.
It is a horrible thing to say, but I am in the it is what is camp when it come to passengers acting out of control. I don't think airlines can do much to reduce incidents as long as the mask mandate remains in place.
Although inflight disturbances get a lot media attention, they only affect a small percentage of passengers. Since the outbreak, I have not personally witnessed any inflight disturbance.
What else can we expect from airlines?
Bottom line
The FAA has asked airlines and trade associations to do more to stop inflight disturbances. Within a week, the FAA will ask airlines to show what they'll do in the future to prevent these problems.
This is a problem that I believe has no solution, as long as there is a mask mandate. If there is a solution to this problem, it would be better enforcement by police officers and more charges being brought against passengers.
It will be interesting to see what other airlines have to offer, as I am not sure what they are expected to do.
Are you unsure if there are any other measures airlines could take to avoid inflight disturbances
