Rising Air Traffic Coincides with Surge in Unruly Passenger Behavior

Air travel around the world experienced continued growth throughout the first half of 2023, with domestic traffic globally surpassing pre-pandemic levels.

Total air traffic in June 2023 (which is measured in revenue passenger kilometers or RPKs) rose 31 percent compared to the same month one year earlier. For the first half of 2023, meanwhile, total air traffic is up 47.2 percent, compared to the first half of 2022, according to the June 2023 Air Passenger Market Analysis issued by the International Air Transport Association (IATA).

For the month of June, domestic traffic in countries around the world rose 27.2 percent compared to the same month a year ago. Domestic demand is also up 33.3 percent for the first half of 2023 compared to a year ago and is 5.1 percent above the June 2019 results.

“European airlines continued to lead the growth in domestic traffic, showing a substantial 13.9 percent increase in domestic RPKs compared to 2019,” says the report.

Latin America and Asia Pacific carriers were also among the leaders in domestic traffic, experiencing growth rates of 12.7 percent and 6 percent, respectively. By contrast, domestic traffic for North American carriers fell 0.1 percent below the pre-pandemic threshold in June. The US domestic market grew just 0.2 percent over June 2019 levels.

“Planes are full which is good news for airlines, local economies, and travel and tourism dependent jobs. All benefit from the industry’s ongoing recovery,” said IATA’s Director General, Willie Walsh.

Increased Unruly Behavior Among Passengers
While air traffic is rising, so too are passenger incidents. In the United States a whopping $8.4 million in fines were issued for unruly incidents onboard flights in 2022, according to a report originally published on the IATA platform Airlines.

Worldwide, unruly passenger incidents increased in 2022 compared with 2021. Data reported by IATA shows there was one incident reported for every 568 flights in 2022, which is up from one per 835 flights in 2021.

The most common incidents involved such issues as smoking, failing to fasten seatbelts, exceeding carry-on baggage allowance or failing to store baggage when required. Additional incidents include such behaviors as consuming personal alcohol on a plane, verbal abuse, and intoxication.

There’s also a growing trend of physical abuse, according to IATA. “Thankfully, physical abuse incidents remain rare, but they did increase 61 percent over 2021, occurring once every 17,200 flights. This increasing aggression even includes threats to kill.”

The most serious of these offenses were ultimately passed on to the FBI to pursue criminal prosecutions.