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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: -1, Flamebait) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @01:54AM (8 children)
Drop the dumbass mask mandates for starters. Last time I flew, in January, the stewardesses were like "please leave your masks on out of consideration of your fellow passengers!" If someone feels they need a comfort blanket and tiger protector around their face, let them wear one, but I resent having to placate their religious feelz.
Second is having competition. The "unruly passenger" and doctors getting clubbed out of a plane stories seem to be concentrated with the oligopoly of DL, AA and UA.
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @02:13AM (6 children)
I hate to feed trolls, but can't resist this time.
What part of "...out of consideration of your fellow passengers!" did you not you understand?
The point of simple masks is to protect other people around you, by catching some fraction of the water droplets that you exhale (more if you sneeze). Yes there is only a small chance that you have covid (with or without symptoms), but given the number of people in the hospital with the virus, there are still plenty of typhoid Marys among us.
Of course I wear a mask in public/indoor spaces. Why would I want to risk hurting you, when I don't even know you?
(Score: 2, Insightful) by Phoenix666 on Friday October 08 2021, @04:00AM (4 children)
If you're worried about contracting the coronavirus, then sitting in a confined space with strangers and recirculated air is the last place you should be. If you are a germophobe, then going out in public, using a public restroom, eating in a restaurant, or doing any other such activity in human society should repel you. That has always been true, except now the Spotlesses of Winthrop seem to have seized the reins of society in demanding that the rest of humanity humor their phobia. It is anathema to freedom and human civilization.
Washington DC delenda est.
(Score: 5, Touché) by Mykl on Friday October 08 2021, @05:20AM (2 children)
Says the person wearing pants so as to not offend those who demand everyone be clothed. Anathema to freedom I say!
(Score: 4, Funny) by DeathMonkey on Friday October 08 2021, @03:47PM (1 child)
How dare they force me to wear a piece of cloth! It's TYRRANY!!!!!
I DEMAND the right to proudly display my testicles in all public places!
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @05:40PM
concealed carry only on aircraft. plus the expulsions from that thing when you sneeze will give the passengers more than just covid.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @12:17PM
I don't think either of those words mean what you think they do.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @09:57AM
They understood perfectly, just chose to be a dick: "I resent having to placate [other people's] feelz".
Which is fine for a basement dweller, but it's a shit attitude for anyone who wants to function in wider society.
(Score: 2) by epitaxial on Friday October 08 2021, @11:28AM
Who knew wearing a thin paper mask could trigger someone so badly.
(Score: 4, Interesting) by sjames on Friday October 08 2021, @02:29AM (1 child)
Just offer a masks and a no masks line. The masks line leads to the usual jetway and the boarding plane. The other line leads to the breech of an old 18 inch gun from a destroyer.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @03:01AM
> ... old 18 inch gun from a destroyer.
A circus clown canon would be fine by me. Aimed at a net over the parking garage, so you climb down, slightly dazed, and get in your car. You can do whatever you want inside your car...as long as you don't get on the plane with me.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by RedGreen on Friday October 08 2021, @03:16AM
go directly to jail. I think it just might have chance of stopping the morons in their tracks.
"I modded down, down, down, and the flames went higher." -- Sven Olsen
(Score: 2) by Beryllium Sphere (r) on Friday October 08 2021, @04:55AM (1 child)
When people act like that, one of the first things to ask is in what fraction of the cases was alcohol involved.
(Score: 2) by number11 on Friday October 08 2021, @05:37PM
Sure, in at least some cases alcohol is involved. So what? That may make behavior that threatens others understandable, but it doesn't make it acceptable. Making the boarding line pass a breathalyzer tests before boarding might help some, but won't weed out the sober asshats.
(Score: 3, Insightful) by bradley13 on Friday October 08 2021, @08:42AM (1 child)
Idiots will be idiots. That said, the combination of security theater and airline greed aggravates the situation. There is zero reason to not allow people to take more stuff onto a plane - a bottle of something to drink, for example. The whole security procedure adds time and stress to travelling, which is already stressful enough.
Then you have the planes, which have managed to cram ever more seats aboard. I'm not that tall, and my knees hit the seat in front. And if the person in front of me reclines, my tray-table is completely useless. Plus, adding more people means that space for personal belongings is effectively reduced - used to be, you could put your stuff overhead, now you almost always have to put things in your (already reduced) foot space. I haven't taken a plane for around 10 years now, because it is just too unpleasant.
There's no reason for flying to be a cattle-car experience. In fact, if you care about CO2 emissions and such, flying really needs to be a lot more expensive. Fewer people flying, bigger seats, more comfort. If the masses can't fly cheap, they can take a long-distance bus. In fact, a good bus is a lot more comfortable, you don't have security theater, and the bus generally takes you straight into the city you want to visit, instead of leaving you an hour away.
Everyone is somebody else's weirdo.
(Score: 1, Interesting) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @12:26PM
I remember many years ago, perhaps as far back as the 90s, an interview with one of the airline heads (I think it was American). They asked him about cramming more and more seats into a plane. He said they looked at it, improving the user experience by removing seats and adding small amenities, but he said the they found that no matter what they did, the only thing--by far--the customer cared about was ticket price. Given a choice between two flights, a relatively comfortable one and a cheaper uncomfortable one, they almost always chose the latter. There is zero incentive for them to improve things and they will push things until they reach limits set by governments. If you want more legroom and don't want to pay for business or first class, your best hope will be some sort of flyer's "Bill of Rights."
(Score: 2) by Username on Friday October 08 2021, @09:34AM (1 child)
When did the FAA get law enforcement capabilities? They cannot do anything. FAA is about regulating the airlines not the passengers.
That's not a very long time period.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @11:07AM
We don't care about legal authority anymore.
Our response to 9/11 REALLY jettisoned any pretense to that. It's all dictatorship all the time.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @05:15PM (2 children)
Maybe being crammed into a claustrophobic seat, with no ability to stretch your legs, and breathing your own hot air, is just too much for some people.
(Score: 2) by number11 on Friday October 08 2021, @05:48PM (1 child)
Maybe. Maybe some people should choose another mode of transportation. There are other ways to travel besides flying.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Saturday October 09 2021, @04:03AM
Or maybe they should just grow the fuck up. Seriously. When two year olds are better behaved than the adults we really have hit the wall.
(Score: 0) by Anonymous Coward on Friday October 08 2021, @08:09PM
OMG HE HAS A ""HAND GUN""! AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA
No wonder "incidents" are on the rise when they count chickenshit like this from people venting their frustration at the rules imposed on them.