FAA Issues Hefty Fines for Unruly Passengers

The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced fines worth more than $160,000 issued to eight unruly airline passengers who were involved in disruptive incidents related to alcohol.

According to The Associated Press, FAA officials did not identify the passengers who were fined, but said they face a combined total of $161,823 in civil penalties. The accused have the right to contest the allegations.

The fines for the unruly passengers are some of the largest in the FAA’s history and represent the agency’s attempt to crack down on onboard incidents, some of which cause flight crews to divert planes for emergency landings.

In total, airlines have reported over 5,000 incidents of unruly passengers to the FAA in 2021.

FAA officials said that while the majority of the incidents involved passengers refusing to wear face masks while on planes, almost 300 of the reports involving unruly passengers involved alcohol.

Of the fines, the largest was over $40,000 and levied against a man who snuck alcohol on the plane, got drunk, smoked marijuana in the lavatory and sexually assaulted a flight attendant on a Southwest Airlines flight in April. The male passenger was arrested in San Diego and charged with resisting arrest and public intoxication.

Last week, Sara Nelson, the influential International President of the Association of Flight Attendants union, testified before Congress on the overwhelming number of incidents of airplane violence against flight crews, saying that if left unchecked it could lead to something bigger and more tragic.