Safety officials will continue their steep enforcement against a surge of unruly passengers as long as it remains a problem, Federal Aviation Administration chief Steve Dickson said Tuesday.
“We’ll keep it in place until the rates drive back down to where we have seen them historically,” Dickson said of the zero-tolerance policy for in-flight misbehavior and violence launched in January. The agency has said the policy will remain in place as long as the Biden administration requires passengers on airplanes to wear face masks.
The FAA has said the zero-tolerance policy means pursuing the maximum civil penalty or criminal prosecution against passengers who violate federal rules, interfering with the instructions of aircraft crews. Approximately 3,000 reports of unruly passengers have been filed this year, and 2,300 of those include face mask violations.
“The flight crews are on the aircraft for passenger safety, and it is extremely important and critical and required to follow the flight crew instructions,” Dickson said at a virtual event hosted by the website Aviation Week.
More on this: The agency said it has begun enforcement proceedings in 57 cases so far, and identified potential violations in 465 cases. In a normal year, the agency pursues as many as 150 violations.
Dickson’s comments came as the FAA announced four new fines against allegedly unruly passengers.
One passenger faces a proposed $15,500 fine for ignoring the instructions of flight attendants, who “told the passenger at least 10 times to wear his facemask over both his mouth and nose.” That passenger also drank alcohol that was prohibited under federal rules because it was not served by the airline.
Three other passengers also face fines of between $7,500 and $10,500 for refusal to wear face masks. One “smoked an e-cigarette in the airplane lavatory,” in violation of federal rules, and another’s yelling and profanity caused a flight to be diverted, the FAA said.
Including the four new penalties, the FAA has announced 26 fines under its zero-tolerance policy so far this year, totaling around $440,000 in proposed fines. The amounts are not final because the passengers receive a violation notice and have 30 days to respond.
