PHOENIX — We've all seen the viral videos showing the chaos onboard hundreds of flights 30,000 feet in the air.
Aggressive flyers on commercial planes cussing, spitting and even attacking other passengers or flight attendants. They are called "unruly passengers" according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
In 2021, the FAA reported 1,099 investigations into these types of situations. In total, there were nearly 6,000 complaints filed for unruly passengers. The most ever recorded since 1995, which is as far back as the data goes on its website.
Most could guess why there were so many that year. "That was the mask mandate," said Sara Nelson, the President of the Association of Flight Attendants. The FAA kept numbers on those unruly passengers as well. Reporting close to 4,300 mask-related incidents were reported.
Nelson said the majority of those attacks were on flight attendants asking passengers to wear masks while on the plane, which at the time was federally required. Nelson said, "Many of those issues were physical assaults."
While that mandate is no longer in effect, Nelson said these types of attacks have not slowed down. "The violent events that have taken place on the planes, those incidents, unfortunately, have not gone down."
So far this year, there have been 680 FAA investigations into these unruly passengers out of the nearly 2,000 reports filed. Nelson said there is a common theme with each one of these reports.
“Most of the incidents that we encounter, especially the violent incidents, have to do with alcohol,” she said
Flight attendants now taking self-defense classes to deal with these situations as the AFA calls for the Department of Justice to prioritize these incidents.
Aggressive passengers are starting to face the consequences for their behavior. Nelson believes prison time and stiff fines will send a clear message.
"People have to understand there are very severe consequences," Nelson said.
Her organization has been vocal with the Department of Justice to prosecute these types of flyers. In September, a woman was sentenced to four months in prison after diverting a flight to Phoenix for attacking another passenger and the flight crew.
So far into 2022, the FAA reports 468 enforcement action cases have started.
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