There is an existing zero-tolerance policy on unruly passengers. This started when Trump supporters flew to Washington and caused the Capitol riot. The Federal Aviation Administration announced this week that it is looking at a possible $100,000 fine against four passengers who disrupted recent flights.
The worst is a $52,500 penalty on a man arrested for trying to open the plane’s cockpit door and assaulting a flight attendant. The passenger was on a Delta flight last December from Honolulu going to Seattle. According to the FAA, the man tried to open the plane’s cockpit and struck a flight attendant twice. The second time was when the man got out of the plastic handcuffs. The police then boarded the plane in Seattle and arrested the unruly passenger.
In another case, FAA proposes to penalize $27,000 against a man who yelled he had a bomb and would blow up the plane. The man was aboard Southwest Airlines when he yelled that he will detonate a bomb.
The other two cases refused to cover their mounts with a mask. These cases became common over the past months. This year alone, the FAA received a whopping 1,300 cases of disruptive passengers. There was even a case when a senator refused to wear her mask and was banned.
In recent months, airlines recorded a spike in the number of unruly passengers. Some are intoxicated while some incidents involved refusal to wear face masks. Despite CDC relaxing the mask mandate, crew and passengers are still required to wear masks in airports and planes.
More Air Travelers More Problems
The TSA has been recording millions of air travelers over the past months. One of the reasons for this is the number of people vaccinated in the US. With more people now confident to travel again because of vaccinations, airlines are overwhelmed by the recent influx of passengers. Some airlines are looking to expand their employees while others are looking to ask furloughed staff to return.