Number of Unruly Passengers Rise While Prosecution Remains Low

One of the biggest challenges in the airline industry today is the thousands of unruly passengers. Despite the zero-tolerance policy against disruptive passengers, the number of unruly passengers continues to rise.

The Federal Administration recorded 3500 cases of unruly passengers for this year alone. And if it is not alarming enough, most of these cases were air passengers who refused to wear masks onboard.

But despite the number of unruly passengers, the agency is powerless to bring criminal charges. The FAA’s role is to ensure air safety and not security. Some cases are extreme that even injured flight attendants.

Number of Unruly Passengers on The Rise

The prosecution despite the rising number of unruly passengers can be a tricky subject. Loretta Alkalay, who is a former FAA eastern regional counsel, said that “It’s a problem”, pertaining to the lack of jurisdiction to prosecute unruly passengers. She added that the “state police usually don’t have jurisdiction. Once it’s in flight, that’s the fed’s jurisdiction and the US attorneys are overwhelmed by more serious cases”.

Since December, the agency has announced only 46 civil penalty cases.

Southwest Airlines Co. Chief Executive Officer Gary Kelly said that “If it’s a criminal activity, it ought to have criminal prosecution”.

He also added that “There are extreme cases out there that are occurring and I think that we will be for the full enforcement and letter of the law, whatever is available. We would be in support of that”.

Publicly Prosecute Criminal Acts

CEO of Airlines for America, Nick Calio has called for the US Department of Justice to act on cases of unruly passengers. In their request, the airline group representing American, Delta, and United, and Southwest Airlines said that they want the federal government to “fully, swiftly, and publicly prosecute criminal acts to the fullest extent of the law”. An American Airlines pilot also said that these disruptions can be considered a distraction.