- The Federal Aviation Administration says unruly passenger behavior has significantly decreased since 2021.
- So far this year, the FAA has received 1,177 reports of unruly passengers.
From skiplagging to planes diverting over wine, a constant stream of flight drama has filled many people's news streams and social-media pages.
But according to the Federal Aviation Administration, unruly passenger behavior has significantly decreased since 2021.
The FAA investigates incidents of unruly behavior reported by airline crews. According to the agency's site, reports of unruly passengers have decreased by 80% since 2021. As of Monday, the FAA has received 1,177 reports in 2023 so far. There were 5,973 reported incidents in 2021, which the FAA says was a record high.
These numbers didn't surprise experts.
"There is nothing especially mysterious about this," Kathleen Andereck, the director of the Center for Sustainable Tourism at Arizona State University, told Little Rock Public Radio. "No more COVID protocols to deal with such as mask-wearing, and less stress. That is what most of the drop is related to."
Cases of unruly behavior are still being sent to the FBI
In 2021, the FAA partnered with the FBI to bring criminal charges against unruly passengers. On Tuesday, the FAA announced that it has referred 22 more cases of unruly passenger behavior to the FBI.
Since the partnership started, the FAA has referred more than 270 of "the most serious cases," the agency's website states. The FAA says passengers can face up to $37,000 in civil penalties per violation.
The latest group of violations took place between December 2021 to April 2023, and as Insider reported, the majority of the cases involve physical or sexual assaults, though one involves a passenger who sent a bomb threat via AirDrop last October.
"Unruly behavior poses serious safety concerns for passengers and crew alike, which is why we are addressing this issue aggressively," US Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg said in a statement.