Passengers Behaving Badly

Tough talk- but are there any consequences?

“Zero tolerance” is the policy of the Federal Aviation Administration for unruly passengers. The Administrator of the FAA has been screaming that all year. But, it is a year that will go down in the history books as the worst for unruly passenger incidents, some of them violent, on aircraft. Clearly, the messaging from authorities is not working.

Credit: ABC 7 Los Angeles

You have probably seen some of the videos. A Frontier passenger was taped to a seat after pounding on a flight attendant. Others have challenged flight attendants who control the cabin. I talked about some of this in an earlier newsletter which posed the question- where are the penalties? I asked the Department of Justice. They finally got back to me.

WHAT SPARKED THE SPIKE?

This epidemic, unfortunately, is related to the Covid pandemic. The majority of incidents have to do with mask-wearing. It is a Federal requirement to wear masks in an airport and on an aircraft. A passenger has to check a box before buying a ticket on-line that he or she understands that this is a requirement to fly.

In the past, the majority of these cases may have involved smoking in the lavatory, vaping, or drinking too much alcohol.

Let’s look at the numbers for this year from the FAA as of August 8, 2021:

--Unruly Passenger reports- 3,810

--Mask Related Incidents- 2,786

--Investigations Initiated- 655

--Enforcement Cases Initiated- 112

What does that mean? Well, the FAA graph shows that this is a really big spike in just the first half of this year:

"ZERO TOLERANCE"

FAA boss Steve Dickson, a former Captain and Chief Pilot at Delta, has been delivering the message that the agency won’t tolerate bad behavior. It’s tough talk that has resulted in change at the FAA. But, we are not seeing immediate results. It may take a while.

Credit: ABC News

When one of these episodes made the news in the past, often with cellphone video (I reported plenty on ABC News), the FAA might initiate an investigation. If so, the agency would usually give the passenger a warning notice, or send that passenger to counseling to resolve the case.

“Zero tolerance,” means warnings and counseling are no longer an option. The offending passenger immediately goes straight to the fine process. Everyone is afforded “due process,” so very few, if any, of these cases has resulted in an actual fine being assessed as of this writing, according to the FAA. The more egregious cases are sent up the chain.

Credit: FAA

It is a Federal crime to “interfere with a flight crew.” The Department of Justice can bring the full prosecutorial weight of the Federal Government to bear.

I asked the DOJ six weeks ago for the statistics of how many of these cases have been prosecuted at the federal level and how many have been handled by state or local authorities. The answer has arrived.

This year, with more than 3,000 reports and more than 100 enforcement cases initiated, only 14 have resulted in prosecutions. The wheels of justice move slowly, so these numbers will likely change as the months pass. However, the number of cases prosecuted halfway through this year is two–thirds of all 2019, the last comparable flying year. The DOJ says in a statement that several factors are considered, including, “egregiousness of the offense, were lives in danger, victim impact, mental health, did the plane have to make an unscheduled landing.” I have been unable to find data on state and local prosecutions of such cases.

ENOUGH PROSECUTIONS?

What is the message being sent by having just 14 prosecutions and FAA fines “in process?” Does it suggest one can act like a fool on a jetliner and there might be a price to pay?

A whole host of aviation entities have asked the DOJ to step it up and crack down on unruly passengers. The FAA is moving through its “zero tolerance” policy and fine processes, and yet the number of passengers acting poorly is still going up. Maybe it’s not just masks. Could it also be booze? That is a future newsletter!

Additional note: The unruly passenger case in video above is from May of 2018 involving Jason Felix. He pleaded guilty to one count of interfering with a flight crew and was sentenced to 27 months in prison. Documents from the U.S. Southern District of Florida Federal Court show Felix was released earlier this year and was granted probation in St. Croix. There were consequences in his case.