Pilots, Airlines Plea for the Federal Government to Throw the Book at Unruly Passengers

The U.S. aviation industry has written to attorney general Merrick Garland pleading for the federal government to clamp down on unruly passenger behavior by making greater use of a law that prohibits interference with a crew member and which carries a maximum penalty of 20-years imprisonment plus a fine.

The letter has been signed by Airlines 4 America which represents some of the biggest U.S. airlines including American, Delta and United Airlines, as well as the likes of jetBlue, Southwest and Hawaiian.

Other signatories of the letter include the Allied Pilots Association which represents 15,000 pilots at American Airlines and the Association of Flight Attendants (AFA-CWA) which represents 50,000 flight attendants at 17 airlines including United.

There has been an explosion in unruly passenger reports since the start of the year with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) now in receipt of more than 3,000 incident reports since January. Around 76 per cent of reports concern passengers who refused to comply with the federal face mask mandate.

The FAA has already handed out around $356,000 in civil penalties against 21 unruly passengers for flouting face mask rules and being disruptive but the aviation industry wants the federal government to go further by making sure rule breakers face consistent criminal sanctions.

“These incidents pose a safety and security threat to our passengers and employees, and we respectfully request that the Department of Justice commit to the full and public prosecution of onboard acts of violence,” the industry wrote in the letter to attorney general Garland on Monday.

“The federal government should send a strong and consistent message through criminal enforcement that compliance with federal law and upholding aviation safety are of paramount importance.”

“We submit that the enforcement of this critical safety statute should be consistent and vigorous across all jurisdictions within the United States. Aviation safety is a federal matter that impacts passengers and crewmembers across the country as well as in interstate travel; it is not a local issue subject to jurisdictional variations,” the letter continues.

They argue the U.S. is already well equipped to criminally punish rule breakers and dissuade others from acting unruly in the air. Section 46504 of Title 49 of the U.S. Code prohibits assault or intimidation of a flight crewmember or flight attendant that interferes with the performance of a crewmember’s duties or lessens the ability of the crewmember to perform those duties.

Penalties range from a fine to 20-years imprisonment or both.

“Making these prosecutions public will put a spotlight on the serious consequences when breaking the law and will act as an effective deterrent against future onboard disruptions,” the airlines, industry bodies and unions claim.

The federal face mask mandate remains in force until September 13 and the FAA has committed to taking a zero-tolerance approach to unruly passengers until the mask mandate is lifted.

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_{Photo Credit: Southwest Airlines}