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Unruly passenger incidents rising again, FAA data shows:
FAA figures released Tuesday show more disruptions on commercial flights in the past week than any week in the past two and a half months.
The FAA says there were 128 new incidents reported by flight crews, bringing this year's total to 4,626 incidents. The new number is the highest weekly figure since the FAA started releasing weekly data on July 20.
About 72% of issues in the past week were over the federal transportation mask mandate, figures show.
[...] The agency has proposed more than $1 million in fines against unruly airline passengers this year.
One $45,000 fine announced in August was against a passenger accused of throwing his luggage at another passenger and, while lying on the aisle floor, "grabbing a flight attendant by the ankles and putting his head up her skirt."
Another passenger would not wear his face mask, the FAA, said, and "acted as though his hand was a gun and made a 'pew, pew' noise as if he was shooting a fellow passenger."
[...] Pekoske said 110 TSA officers have been assaulted this year.
Lots Of Talk About A Crackdown On America’s Air Rage Epidemic—But Not Enough Action:
Among the most egregious incidents: Last December, a Delta Air Lines passenger tried to open the cockpit door mid-flight and struck a flight attendant in the face before being restrained by crew members and a fellow passenger. On an Alaska Airlines flight in March, a Colorado man who refused to wear a face mask swatted at a flight attendant, then stood up and urinated in his seat area. In May, a Southwest Airlines passenger punched out a flight attendant’s teeth after being told to keep her seat belt fastened.
[...] The threat of four- and five-figure fines has not tamped down unruly behavior on planes. “Civil penalties alone are failing to deter criminal activity by airline passengers,” [...]
[...] The airline industry, meanwhile, says this is a job for the Department of Justice. “We believe that the United States Government is well equipped to prosecute unruly and disruptive onboard behavior,” [...]
What, if anything, should be done, or could improve the situation?
(Score: 5, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @01:10AM (8 children)
If you act like a twat, you should be banned from flying.
As far as im concerned, if you strike a member of the flight crew, thats a permanent seat on the no fly list. Hope you like busses.
Airlines need to start banning customers, and sharing these ban lists with each other.
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @01:20AM
Sounds like airlines just need to better support their employees and press charges like anyone else would if someone assaulted them.
(Score: 3, Interesting) by ChrisMaple on Friday October 08 2021, @03:01AM (5 children)
Striking a member of the flight crew should result in mandatory jail time. No exceptions. Double time if a government employee.
(Score: 4, Insightful) by dry on Friday October 08 2021, @05:52AM (4 children)
Why would striking a government employee be worse then striking a stewardess doing her job? Seems to me that punching out anybodies teeth should result in quite a bit of prison, not jail, time
(Score: 1, Informative) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @11:23AM (1 child)
I think you misread. The GP probably meant "double the sentence if the perpretator is a government employee".
(Score: 2) by dry on Friday October 08 2021, @11:08PM
Not how I took it but you might be right, in which case I agree.
(Score: 2) by Tork on Friday October 08 2021, @08:50PM (1 child)
I'm not sure that's what the intent of that statement was but if you don't mind me entertaining the question anyway: I think the mindset is that someone wearing a badge* is the least likely person to be a provocateur AND they're there to act as a mediator, so even in the most tense of situations you should know better than to assault them. Not sure if I agree or disagree with it but that's the way I understand it.
* My comment only works in the badge-wearing context, my explanation probably isn't air-tight, the OP might have been referring to plain-clothes air marshals, I cannot address that at the moment.
Slashdolt Logic: "25 year old jokes about sharks and lasers are +5, Funny." 💩
(Score: 2) by dry on Friday October 08 2021, @11:12PM
I'm not sure if I agree that a badge wearer is least likely to be a provocateur but you do have a point. Still that is something the court can take into consideration at sentencing rather then having a hard coded law.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @01:52PM
Sure. They area free enterprise, and should be allowed to do what they want. If a person can be serviced a different way (even more expensive), then that is just the free market at work.
This I'm not sure I agree with. This sounds dangerously close to a blacklist, and there is a history of those being abused in the past. I'm thinking of the red scares in Hollywood, and that old line in movies where somebody annoys a powerful (and sometimes corrupt) local boss (sometimes connected to the mob), and gets told "you'll never work in this town again."
A one-strike-and-your-own policy is rarely good.