Air Rage Is Getting Worse, And Airlines Can’t Fix It

The airline industry faces a crisis from its own customers, trying to balance the service promise made in countless commercials with the serious responsibility of keeping passengers and crew safe onboard. The aircraft cabin can be a stressful, vulnerable space. The role of airline crew is to ensure cabin safety, but they are often caught up between marketing and reality.

Passengers often view the role of flight attendants as advertised: the friendly service providers onboard who are there to keep passengers comfortable. While that is part of their role, it’s not the main reason they are on the plane. They are onboard to handle fires, medical or security situations, and, critically, to save lives during an aircraft emergency. The rise of passengers acting out on planes puts that vital role in peril.

The Unruly Passenger Crisis

Thom McDaniel, Vice President of Transport Workers Union International and a flight attendant with Southwest Airlines
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, said, “Pre-pandemic, we would have assaults happening on airline workers at about 300 a year, and those increased by about 3,000% in 2020, and they’re continuing to go on.”

Analysis by the International Air Transport Association shows that unruly passenger incidents increased in 2022.

Unruly passenger incidents on flights from one per 835 flights in 2021 to one per 568 flights in 2022. Unruly behavior, including a failure to comply with crew member instructions, verbal abuse, and intoxication, were the most common categories of incidents in 2022. While rare, physical abuse of crew has increased by 61% globally since 2021, occurring once every 17,200 flights.

So far this year, the Federal Aviation Administration has recorded 1,670 reports of unruly passengers. While this is far below the 2021 spike of 5,793 reports, it is still significantly higher than pre-pandemic levels. The FAA recorded 1,161 unruly passenger incidents in 2019, 889 in 2018, and 544 in 2017. Overall, the trend is on the rise.

Zero-Tolerance For Unruly Behavior

“The increasing trend of unruly passenger incidents is worrying,” said Conrad Clifford, IATA’s Deputy Director General. “Passengers and crew are entitled to a safe and hassle-free experience on board. For that, passengers must comply with crew instructions. While our professional crews are well-trained to manage unruly passenger scenarios, it is unacceptable that rules in place for everyone’s safety are disobeyed by a small but persistent minority of passengers. There is no excuse for not following the instructions of the crew.”

But while there may be no excuse, there are also too few consequences. On international flights, there is a lack of clarity on who has the jurisdiction to penalize the offending passenger: the airline’s country of operation, the country of departure or destination, or the passenger’s country of citizenship. A survey from IATA member airline legal departments in 2020 found that in 60% of incidents, jurisdictional issues were cited as the reason that prosecutions did not proceed. And prosecutions are sometimes no more effective on domestic flights than international flights.

Addressing the issues of international flights, IATA has called for stronger regulation. They suggest governments have the legal authority to prosecute unruly passengers, regardless of their state of origin, and to enforce measures that reflect the severity of the incident.

The U.S. Department of Transportation has well-established rules that should protect crew. Assault of cabin crew falls under 49 U.S. Code § 46504 interference with flight crew members and attendants.

“An individual on an aircraft in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the United States who, by assaulting or intimidating a flight crew member or flight attendant of the aircraft, interferes with the performance of the duties of the member or attendant or lessens the ability of the member or attendant to perform those duties, or attempts or conspires to do such an act, shall be fined under title 18, imprisoned for not more than 20 years, or both. However, if a dangerous weapon is used in assaulting or intimidating the member or attendant, the individual shall be imprisoned for any term of years or for life.”

Since late 2021, the FAA has adopted a no-tolerance policy and referred more than 270 of the most severe cases to the FBI under a partnership to ensure unruly airline passengers face criminal prosecution.

“Unruly behavior poses serious safety concerns for passengers and crew alike, which is why we are addressing this issue aggressively,” said U.S. Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg. “If you act out on an airplane, you can face criminal prosecution and fines up to $37,000 per violation.” 

The Montreal Protocol 2014

The United Nations International Civil Aviation Organization Montreal Protocol 2014 addresses this issue by giving mandatory jurisdiction to the State of the intended landing. In this way, it gives States powers to deal with unruly passengers that land in their territory, no matter where the aircraft is registered. MP14 became effective January 1, 2020, and 43 States have ratified it, but not all. Some States may have concerns over preserving their citizens’ constitutional protections. The US, for example, has yet to sign the Protocol.

According to IATA, the states that signed on to MP14 account for around a third of international passenger traffic. But the unruly passenger crisis is pervasive and global. IATA urges all states to ratify the agreement as soon as possible.

Airline Industry Action

The airline industry has also introduced programs and guidance to prevent and de-escalate incidents. Airlines have collaborated with airports, bars, restaurants, and duty-free shops and led awareness campaigns on the consequences of unruly behavior.

“In the face of rising unruly incident numbers, governments and the industry are taking more serious measures to prevent unruly passenger incidents. States are ratifying MP14 and reviewing enforcement measures, sending a clear message of deterrence by showing that they are ready to prosecute unruly behavior. For the industry’s part, there is greater collaboration. For example, as the vast majority of intoxication incidents occur from alcohol consumed prior to the flight, the support of airport bars and restaurants to ensure the responsible consumption of alcohol is particularly important,” said IATA’s Clifford.

“No one wants to stop people having a good time when they go on holiday—but we all have a responsibility to behave with respect for other passengers and the crew. For the sake of the majority, we make no apology for seeking to crack down on the bad behavior of a tiny number of travelers who can make a flight very uncomfortable for everyone else,” he concluded.

Airline Workers Unite Against Passenger Assaults

The Transport Workers Union (TWU) gathered at Newark Liberty International Airport this summer to raise awareness about the ‘Assault Won’t Fly’ campaign. It targets the increasing incidents of unruly passengers assaulting airline staff. As American Airlines flight attendants voted to strike over Labor Day, the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA) cited “additional work duties, difficult scheduling, and passenger aggression” in their list of complaints.

The airline industry faces a staffing shortage. Boeing
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predicts the aviation industry will need 938,000 new cabin crew members over the next twenty years, 177,000 in North America alone.

This requires airlines to become more attractive employers and safe workplaces. It will be easier for the industry to meet those numbers by getting governments to help resolve the unruly passenger crisis.

Regulators mark the divide between cabin crew members’ service and safety roles. The regulation of cabin crew numbers relative to passengers on an aircraft is there to ensure safety and security, not beverages and snacks. Airlines are working to support crew’s critical safety function without diluting the brand value of their service role. The industry hopes the rising wave of unruly passenger incidents may recede if governments enact stricter regulations.

Protection From Abusive Passengers Act

The ‘Protection from Abusive Passengers Act‘ has earned the support of cabin crew and their unions. This bipartisan proposal would bar violent passengers from flying if convicted of assaulting aviation workers. These passengers would also be excluded from the TSA PreCheck and Customs’ Global Entry programs.

U.S. Rep. Josh Gottheimer from New Jersey, who supports the rule, stated, “We need to put an end to assaults against our airline workers and ensure these criminals are brought to justice and held accountable. If you put your hands on an airline worker, you should never be allowed to fly again, period.”