Anger at 38,000 feet: Unruly behavior on planes, such as drunkenness or violence, increased 47% by 2022 with incidents occurring on one in 568 flights compared to one in 835
- Incidents at airlines with troublesome passengers initially declined in early 2022
- But for the rest of last year, incidents increased, including abuse and intoxication
Incidents involving unruly passengers on flights worldwide are up nearly 50 percent in 2022 from the previous year, according to a new report.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) collected data on one incident for every 568 flights in 2022 compared to one incident for every 835 flights in 2021 – an increase of about 47 percent.
Failure to comply with flight crew instructions, verbal abuse and drunkenness were responsible for the three most common incidents, IATA recorded.
Incidents involving troublesome passengers initially declined at the start of 2022 – at a time when mask requirements were dropped – before increasing again over the course of the year.
IATA represents some 300 airlines, accounting for about 83 percent of global air traffic.
According to IATA, there was one incident for every 568 flights in 2022 (file image of a Delta flight)
According to the report, there was an “alarming” increase in physical abuse of airline personnel. While this was a relatively small proportion of incidents – just one in 17,200 flights – it was a 61 percent increase over the previous year.
The IATA recommended that further legal recognition be given to in-flight security personnel to deal with unruly passengers and that countries that ratify legislation better deal with incidents of air raids on arrival, regardless of the passenger’s state of origin.
The rise in non-compliance incidents accounted for onboard smoking – including cigarettes, e-cigarettes and vaping – refusal to fasten seatbelts and failure to stow luggage at the request of attendants.
Speaking at the International Air Transport Association conference in Istanbul, the body’s deputy director-general, Conrad Clifford, said: “The increasing trend of unruly passenger incidents is worrying. Passengers and crew are entitled to a safe and hassle-free experience on board. Passengers must follow instructions from the crew to do so.
“While our professional crews are well trained to deal with unruly passenger scenarios, it is unacceptable that rules for everyone’s safety are not being followed by a small but persistent minority of passengers.
“There’s no excuse for not following the crew’s instructions.”
Vaping has become more common on flights in the past year after it became more socially popular. But onboard smoke detectors aren’t powerful enough to detect vapor from the device.
The rise in non-compliance incidents was due to onboard smoking – including cigarettes, e-cigarettes and vaping (file image)
A cabin crew source told me The times: “Vaping is a big problem on flights. We see people doing it all the time.
“Often we tell them to stop and they are just ignored, especially if passengers are drinking or have been before boarding. It can get exciting.’
It comes as it was found last month that ‘air rage’ incidents on flights in the UK are almost down since before the coronavirus pandemic.
Figures from the Civil Aviation Authority show a total of 1,028 cases of sexual assault, physical assault, mass brawls, drunken threats, verbal abuse and nudity.
This was three times the number of incidents reported by UK airlines in 2019 – with 373 incidents.
These ‘air rage’ cases have become so prolific that MPs are now calling for an amendment to the law to help cabin crew deal with drunk and disruptive passengers.