The number of unruly passengers on U.S. flights is too high, the FAA says, so a tough policy to mask

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(CNN) – The Federal Aviation Administration will extend its stricter enforcement against unruly passengers (specifically targeted at those who disobey masking policies) after receiving more than 500 reports of passenger misbehavior since December, the agency Monday.

“The number of cases we are seeing is still too high and tells us that urgent action needs to be taken,” said FAA Administrator Steve Dickson.

The announcement was made when the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said there were more people traveling by plane in the past four days than during any other similar period during the pandemic.

The TSA said it examined 1,344,128 people at airports on Sunday, meaning it had flown 5.2 million since Thursday. On Friday, 1,357,111 passengers were projected, the highest figure in a single day since March 15, 2020.

While the increase in travel is good news for the struggling airline industry, the rise in passengers could mean an increase in in-flight incidents.

Dickson, of the FAA, said he has instructed agency officials to consider both civil fines and criminal charges for reports of unruly passengers.

“I have decided to expand the FAA’s zero tolerance policy for unruly passengers as we continue to do our best to deal with the pandemic,” it said in a statement. “The policy instructs our security inspectors and attorneys to take strong enforcement action against any passenger who disrupts or threatens the security of a flight, with penalties ranging from fines to jail time.”

The intensive application was due to expire at the end of the month, but will now remain in force until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention lifts its order requiring the use of face masks in mass and commercial modes of transport.

FAA reviewing more than 450 reports of unruly passengers

The reporting period for the more than 500 complaints of unruly passengers included time around the Capitol revolt. Earlier, CNN had reported that several attendees had had difficulty accessing flights after the riot, with some putting themselves on the flight ban lists.

The FAA is currently reviewing more than 450 cases and has begun taking action against unruly passengers in 20 cases, he said.

At least four fines have been imposed on passengers under the stricter enforcement policy, the largest at $ 27,500.

The agency said fined people can respond to the agency and has not released the final amount those people paid.

Passengers who have so far been fined are accused of, in addition to not wearing masks, assaulting flight attendants, shouting obscenities and drinking unapproved alcohol on planes.

In June, CNN reported that American Airlines had to temporarily suspend a passenger from its flights after the person refused to wear a face mask.
Other airlines permanently banned passengers for not following the guidelines, including Delta, which banned 460 anti-maskers.

While the FAA has not revealed how many cases it pursues against passengers, the agency said about a month ago that, in all modes of transportation, it had received reports of “less than 1,000 passengers … who refused to carry a facial mask “.

The president of a major flight attendants’ union who had called for the policy to be extended described it as “significant deterrence”.

“The mosaic, the politically biased discussion around masks, has created confusion and conflict,” said Sara Nelson of the Vol-CWA Assistants Association. “We don’t have time to break the federal mask mandate. On a plane, this behavior puts everyone at risk and we can’t stand it.”

FAA sanctions are independent of those that the TSA can issue under a set of safety directives.

CNN’s Pete Muntean contributed to this report.

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