Two unruly flight passengers could face largest-ever fines from the FAA

The Federal Aviation Administration said on Friday that it wants to impose its largest fines ever on two passengers on the plane involved in violent incidents last summer.

The FAA has proposed a $ 81,950 civil penalty for a passenger who hit a flight attendant in the head, tried to open the door of a cockpit and hit her head, spat and tried to kick crew members and passengers even after putting it on with flexible handcuffs. The incident happened on an American Airlines flight last July and the passenger was later arrested.

The FAA is also seeking a $ 77,272 fine on a woman who tried to open a cabin door during a flight and bit another passenger repeatedly before the crew detained her on a Delta Air Lines flight from Las Vegas to Las Vegas. Atlanta last July.

The passengers, none of whom were identified, have 30 days to respond to the allegations.

The FAA said the fines are part of about $ 2 million in proposed sanctions it has announced since Jan. 1.

Airlines have reported a large number of unruly passenger incidents since early 2021, most of them involving passengers who refuse to wear face masks. Airlines began enforcing federal mask mandates in June 2020, and the FAA implemented its zero-tolerance policy on unruly behavior in January 2021.

There has been an “unprecedented increase in violent passenger assaults,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Flight Attendant Association. he said before a hearing in the United States Senate in December. The rise in rebel passengers has caused Delta Airlines to do the same push a federal no-fly list. Delta has already done so banned 1,600 passengers on their own planes.

Airlines have reported 1,081 incidents of unruly passengers so far in 2022, according to the FAA. Some 700 of those incidents involved face masks, the agency said.

For example, a recent AeroMexico flight from Toronto to Mexico City was diverted to Texas because three passengers he seemed to be intoxicated they had refused to wear their masks.

Assaulting a flight crew member is a federal offense punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Passengers who have been fined for assaulting, threatening, intimidating, or interfering with a crew member may be removed from eligibility for TSA pre-verification, according to the Transportation Security Administration and the Federal Transportation Administration. aviation.

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