Airline Turbulence: Navigating the Rising Wave of Unruly U.S. Flight Passengers
As the pandemic continued to spread, Amirzadeh's work hours were reduced. Now, her job is confined to domestic flights within the U.S. and she has to grapple not just with the fear of contracting Covid-19 but also with the recent surge in passenger numbers and disruptions.
"I've done so many babysitting jobs I never thought I'd do," Amirzadeh, a flight attendant for a U.S. budget airline, told CNN Travel. "There were more real kids than adults on board." She chuckled.
The unusual passenger behavior seems to have reached unprecedented levels this summer. In one incident, a Southwest Airlines passenger assaulted a flight attendant, knocking out two of her teeth. Moreover, a video circulated showing a passenger strapped to his seat and a Frontier Airlines crew member reportedly assaulting and berating him.
To date, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has imposed penalties totaling over $1 million on uncooperative airline passengers in 2021.
American flight attendants reported to CNN Travel that the stress of the situation is taking its toll.
Susannah Carr, who works for a major U.S. airline, said that such events used to be "the exception, not the rule." Now they're "all too common."
"I had expected there to be a backlash," she said. "I had anticipated dealing with a passenger who might become violent."
Amirzadeh said that the American Airlines flight attendants "can't take it anymore."
According to Allie Malis, a flight attendant with American Airlines and a representative for the Society of Professional Flight Attendants, the union represents employees of U.S. airlines, she believes the rise in incidents is closely linked and largely responsible for the surge.
Alcohol is often cited as a factor: Passengers drink at airports and during boarding, unnoticed by cabin crew members, only to become intoxicated as the cabin climbs to 30,000 feet.
However, it's always challenging to determine whether passengers are truly becoming more unruly. Not all International Air Transport Association (IATA) airlines report data, and not all airlines record every instance of disruptive behavior. Separate data from the FAA do show fluctuations in the number of investigated incidents between 1995 and 2019[2].
It's suspected that such incidents have become more frequent in recent years due to viral videos of unruly passengers spreading on social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube.
Despite the FAA data indicating fluctuating figures for the past two decades, incidents in 2021 seem to reach new heights. In 2019, the FAA initiated investigations into 146 incidents. In 2021, that number has climbed to 727[2].
Covid-19 appears to have exacerbated an existing problem to unprecedented levels in the U.S.
Amirzadeh recalled the silent flights of the spring of 2020. "People were too scared to look at other passengers, let alone engage in a confrontation," she said.
In the summer of 2020, travel was recommended, and reports of flight delays declined. The FAA yet did not mandate mask-wearing, but some airlines enforced masks as a condition of travel, which some passengers found objectionable.
Unruly behavior has since reached new peaks.
"It seems like every disruptive incident is more extreme than the last, something we never would have imagined last year," Malis said.
"As a flight attendant, it's hard to imagine being in a situation where you have to restrain a passenger with duct tape to ensure the safety of everyone else on board, but that's happened in recent months," Malis said.
Mallis recalls a sharp increase in incidents post-January 6th Capitol riots. The harassment and disturbances aboard flights led the Association of Cabin Crews International (CWA (AFA)), representing U.S. flight attendants at 17 airlines, to call for banning unruly passengers from domestic flights.
"That insurrection was an eye-opening experience," Malis said. "What do you do when multiple incidents occur simultaneously, and only four crew members are on board?"
An AFA survey released in July found that 85% of the 5,000 flight attendants surveyed reported dealing with an unruly passenger in 2021. Sixty-one percent of passengers reported a fellow passenger using racist, sexist, or homophobic slurs, while 17% stated they had been physically assaulted.
"I thought I'd seen it all," Amirzadeh, who has been flying for six years and previously worked in customer service, said.
"But after what I've learned in the last 18 months, that's definitely not the case, and I've seen things, heard things, and done things I never thought I would in my lifetime."
Flying Amidst Covid-19
Many of the incidents have been related to non-compliance with mask mandates, which have proved problematic for flight attendants since the pandemic began. Although it's now an FAA regulation and federal law, mask compliance remains an issue[4].
In an August 19th press release, the FAA reported it had received roughly 3,890 reports of unruly passenger behavior since January 1. Of those, 2,867 were related to passengers refusing to comply with mask requirements.
"At first, I'd be sympathetic and say: ‚Hey, I get it, it's hot, I'm hot. I wear one too – and I want you to wear it too. Can we work together on this?‘" Amirzadeh said.
"But it's been a year and a half now, and they wear them everywhere. And we're not the only service industry where they're asked to wear them – at every train station, bus station, and at every airline …"
Carr said she believed the issue lay in mask mandates being politicized in the U.S.
"The mask question wasn't about public health at first, it was more about politics. That's still an issue today," she said.
Amirzadeh said that provocative interactions around masks commonly stemmed from passengers taking off their masks to eat or drink, then putting them back on, one of the reasons she believes alcohol should no longer be served on flights.
Carr raised the question of whether alcohol would be available for passengers to bring on board.
Nevertheless, alcohol may not be served – as Maris discovered, where alcohol is not allowed in the main cabin on most American Airlines flights.
"On some of my flights, the passengers would get upset because they'd want to drink – but at the same time, … if they're that angry because they can't drink, they're the very reason why we can't give them any," Mallis said.
Some passengers find flying during Covid-19 to be stressful and anxiety-inducing. Carr believes that stress, combined with the stress faced during the pandemic, is a contributing factor to the rise in incidents.
"We've been isolated since the pandemic started," she said. "I think that social niceties with regard to what's considered acceptable in public and on flights have been dropped."
Mallis wants passengers to be made aware that flight crews share their stress and do not cause flight cancellations or delays.
"We were on the frontlines and isolated from our families," she said. "We do our jobs, we're not the reason your flight is canceled, we're not the reason you're frustrated."
The constant presence of incidents in social media has also led Mallis to believe that these incidents may be copycat behavior.
Amirzadeh said to turn the situation around, people should understand that passengers spreading the virus pay a price.
Responding to Incidents
Flight attendants are trained to handle situations from medical emergencies to potential terrorist attacks.
"We're not here to give you Coke, we're here to save your life," Amirzadeh said.
Despite this, there are concerns that dealing with unruly passengers may divert attention from other issues.
"We're the ones who will give you CPR, the ones who will perform the Heimlich maneuver, the ones who will put out the fire," Mallis said. "But if we spend too much time dealing with unruly passengers, we might miss those other things."
Mallis said dealing with unruly passengers is a team effort – if a passenger appears to be upset with a particular flight attendant, another crewmember can intervene to calm them down.
Carr suggested approach passengers who wear masks with understanding right from boarding and be friendly to them, reminding them of basic courtesies.
If a passenger continues to disobey the rules, multiple warnings are issued, and eventually, passengers are given a notice saying their behavior has been reported and may lead to travel restrictions if they persist.
Flight attendants cannot compel passengers to wear masks, but Amirzadeh said that in some cases, they can make the passenger aware that failure to comply could result in the cancellation of their return ticket and report the incident to the FAA and face penalties and legal consequences.
Flight attendants may also attend self-defense courses organized by the Transportation Security Administration.
"I find it sad that more and more flight attendants are now required to take self-defense courses and are having to prepare to protect themselves," Amirzadeh said.
On January 13, 2021, the FAA issued an order, imposing stricter enforcement policies against unruly airline passengers, pledging zero-tolerance[3].
Any passenger who physically or verbally assaults, threatens, intimidates, or disturbs a flight crew member can face penalties up to $35,000 and jail time.
In addition, the FAA has launched a public awareness campaign, which includes a video and social media memes, urging US airports to handle reported incidents on board and take alcohol restrictions into account.
The flight attendants union AFA is calling for the zero-tolerance policy to be made permanent.
"It's also important that the Department of Justice prosecutes some of these incidents legally," Carr said. "These incidents are serious, flight crew members have been assaulted and harmed …. and it's important that they are prosecuted publicly."
Maris also proposed a coordination between different US airlines to ensure passengers who have been banned by one airline cannot fly with another.
Carr and Amirzadeh are both members of the AFA union.
"We've had stories exchanged with flight crews from all airlines, offering support and solidarity," Mallis said.
The AFA union supports its members through therapy sessions.
"Of course some flight crews need physical, mental, and emotional rest," Mallis said. "But the cabin crew equipment doesn't currently offer any option for voluntary leave."
Current State of Tourism Industry
Nearly a year of furloughs and layoffs has left flight attendants concerned that the combined impact of Covid-19 and unruly passengers might once again ground the aviation industry.
"One of the joys of my job is supporting passengers – whether they're going on long-awaited vacations, dealing with challenging circumstances, or something in between," Carr said. "I love this industry and my colleagues, and it's amazing to welcome back travelers."
"But the pandemic is far from over. Covid-19 and its variants continue to claim lives," Carr continued. "The last thing we want is for travel to be suspended again."
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The increase in incidents involving disruptive passengers on U.S. airlines in 2021 has mainly been attributed to the tensions surrounding mask mandates during the Covid-19 pandemic. This period saw a significant rise in unruly passenger behavior, with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) recording 720 disruptive passenger incidents in a single month in early 2021. The stress and frustration caused by face mask requirements, combined with the emotional impact of the pandemic, contributed to the heightened level of disruptions on flights.[1][3]
Additionally, violent clashes at the US Capitol in January 2021, where pro-Trump supporters attempted to storm the Capitol, also contributed to the increase in violent and threatening behavior on flights. This led to a "disturbing increase in incidents" where travelers acted violently or threatened to do so, prompting the FAA to impose stricter legal enforcement policies against unruly passengers.[3]
