The US Federal Aviation Administration says the number of unruly passenger incidents on US commercial flights is declining, but still remains too high. Incident accounts have skyrocketed during the pandemic, largely over the refusal of passengers to heed mandatory mask mandates.

The FAA credits the launch of its Zero Tolerance campaign – including fining perpetrators – with FAA Administrator Steve Dickson stating, “Our work is having an impact and the trend is moving in the right direction. But we need the progress to continue. This remains a serious safety threat, and one incident is one too many.”

He added, “The FAA will continue its Zero Tolerance policy, keep its public awareness campaign going, and keep pushing and partnering with everyone in the aviation system to do more.”

According to new statistics released last week, unruly passenger incidents in the US were occurring approximately six times per every 10,000 flights. That’s an approximately 50% drop from early 2021, but it’s more than twice as high as the end of 2020. Since the FAA launched its public awareness campaign with memes and two public service announcements, the rate has fallen approximately 30 percent.

The FAA said last week that airlines have reported 4,385 events involving rowdy passengers this year, with 73% of them involving passengers who refuse to wear face masks, which are required on flights by federal rule.

FAA figures show that the spike began in late January, including several flights that were disrupted by people flying to a rally in Washington for then-President Donald Trump.

Using its full legal authority to deter this dangerous behavior, the FAA adopted a zero-tolerance policy toward unruly passengers in January 2021. Under the policy, the FAA no longer issues warning letters. Instead, it moves directly to fines, which have totaled US$1.1 million to date. In addition to its public service announcement videos and memes, the agency has asked airports to help educate passengers that they cannot consume alcohol on board that they purchase at restaurants and shops in the airport or that is not served by a flight attendant.

At a congressional hearing last week, the chairman of the House Transportation Committee, Peter DeFazio, called for more criminal prosecutions of unruly passengers. He also said airports should stop concessioners from selling alcohol to go.

“Get a great big to-go cup with four shots in it and take it on the airplane – that needs to end,” he said.

Later this month, the FAA plans to host unruly passenger working sessions with key aviation stakeholders. The FAA will also ask members of the aviation system to share best practices and to identify additional steps they and the US government can take to reduce the unruly incident rate further.