Image source: Ismail Mohamed / Unsplash
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is continuing to crack down on unruly flyers.
On Tuesday, the agency announced proposed fines totaling $124,500 against eight plane passengers — the latest round of penalties associated with the FAA’s “zero-tolerance policy” for dangerous and disruptive behavior.
Implemented in January, the policy follows what the FAA described as “a disturbing increase in incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior.”
Since the policy went into effect, a total of $568,000 in fines has been levied by the FAA this year against dozens of passengers, according to the FAA.
The agency said it has received 3,100 reports of unruly behavior, 2,350 of which were related to passengers who refused to comply with the federal transportation mask mandate.
In Tuesday’s press release, the FAA said the latest round of fines — which range from $9,000 to $22,000 — involve cases in which passengers assaulted flight attendants, refused to wear face masks or drank alcohol they brought aboard the plane.
Earlier this week, Airlines 4 America, a coalition of US air carriers, sent a letter to FAA administrator Steve Dickson requesting more collaboration with the US Justice Department on prosecuting passengers who get out of hand.
A separate letter was sent by Airlines 4 America and unions representing pilots and flight crew asking Attorney General Merrick Garland to prosecute unruly and violent passengers.
In the letter, they cited a “substantial increase in and growing escalation of passengers’ unruly and disruptive behavior onboard aircraft, particularly toward crewmembers” and said the incidents “pose a safety and security threat.”
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Source: Equities News
