FAA Unruly Passengers Record Fines Overview:
- Who: The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is seeking to impose a total of $159,222 in combined fines against two unruly female airline passengers.
- Why: The individual fines of $81,950 and $77,272 would be the highest ever imposed by the FAA.
- Where: The incidents occurred on American Airlines and Delta Air Lines flights.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) is seeking to impose a total of $159,222 in combined fines on a pair of unruly airline passengers who disrupted separate flights last July.
The individual amounts would become the highest fines ever given by the FAA, the Associated Press reports.
The agency is seeking a civil penalty of $81,950 from a female passenger who assaulted a flight attendant, tried to open a cabin door and attempted to kick and spit on passengers and crew members.
The incident occurred on an American Airlines flight and led to the passenger being detained upon the plane’s arrival in Charlotte, North Carolina, the AP reports.
A separate incident that same month involved a female passenger who tried to open a cabin door and repeatedly bit a fellow passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta.
The FAA is imposing a $77,272 fine against that passenger, the AP reports. Neither of the passengers being fined by the agency have been publicly identified and will be given 30 days to respond.
FAA Has Already Imposed Around $2 Million In Fines This Year
The agency says it has imposed around $2 million in fines since the beginning of the year.
“Federal law prohibits interfering with aircraft crew or physically assaulting or threatening to physically assault aircraft crew or anyone else on an aircraft,” the FAA said in a statement. “Passengers are subject to civil penalties for such misconduct, which can threaten the safety of the flight by disrupting or distracting cabin crew from their safety duties.”
Airlines have already reported more than 1,000 incidents this year, reports the AP, which says the majority of them are due to disagreements surrounding having to wear a face mask.
A class action lawsuit was filed against Southwest Airlines in August of last year over claims the airline overcharged passengers who booked flights on “unsafe” Boeing 737 MAX jets.
Passengers who flew on the Boeing 737 MAX jets claim Southwest should not have allowed them to fly on the airplanes.
Have you experienced an incident with an unruly passenger while flying on an airline in America? Let us know in the comments!
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