As passengers return to air travel, bad behavior skyrockets
By DAVID KOENIG, Associated Press
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Updated:
AP Photo/Rick Bowmer
In this March 9, 2021, file photo, a plane arrives at Salt Lake City International Airport. Airlines have reported about 3,000 cases of disruptive passengers since Jan. 1, according to a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration.
Even if you’re vaccinated, you’ll still need to wear a mask in airports and on planes, TSA said. All passengers over the age of 2 are required to wear a face mask during the security screening process.
The only time you can take your mask off is if an officer requests that you temporarily lower the mask to confirm your identify.
If you don’t wear a mask, you could get fined, according to the TSA. Officials will recommend a fine of $250 for a first offense and up to $1,500 for repeat offenders.
“Passengers without a mask may be denied entry, boarding, or continued transport,” TSA said in a Jan. 31 news release. “Failure to comply with the mask requirement can result in civil penalties.”
If you start packing your bags when they are completely emptied from your last trip, you have less of a chance of bringing something through security that you didn’t mean to have.
If there’s an item that TSA has to inspect inside your bag, it’s going to keep you waiting longer.
TSA officials keep finding prohibited items in passengers’ luggage. At the Dallas Love Field and Dallas Fort Worth International airports, TSA officials have seen an increase in the number of items that aren’t allowed.
Officers found more than 100 stun guns at both airports combined from January to April of this year. TSA officials have also found firearms and flammables in luggage at airports across the country.
If you’re wondering what you can and can’t bring in a carry-on or checked bag, you can check TSA’s “What Can I Bring?” site before packing.
Before you get into the TSA checkpoint line, think about how you could avoid touching additional items.
TSA said that putting any jewelry, keys or other items in your carry-on bag could help save you from dumping items into a bin at the conveyor belt. You should also know which items will need removal and what can stay in a bag.
Having an ID card ready and following the rules for transporting liquids also help make the process more speedy.
You can take up to 3.4 ounces of liquids on board a plane unless it’s hand sanitizer. You’re allowed up to 12 ounces of hand sanitizer in a carry-on bag.
John J. Kim / Chicago Tribune/Chicago Tribune/TNS
People who are prepared and get their questions answered before they get to the airport will have an easier time making their way through security.
“Those who are preparing to travel and may have special circumstances, considerations or general questions about airport screening can get live assistance by tweeting questions and comments to @AskTSA or via Facebook Messenger,” TSA said. You can also call the TSA Contact Center at 866-289-9673.
If you don’t want the hassle of going through a typical TSA checkpoint at all, you could always enroll in TSA PreCheck.
In April 2021, most passengers with PreCheck waited only five minutes.
With PreCheck, you don’t have to take off your shoes or belts, and you don’t need to remove liquids, food or laptops from your bag. You can apply online for PreCheck and enroll in person.
“Most new enrollees receive their known traveler number within five days, and membership lasts for five years,” TSA said.
Land and Sea Horseback riding with our cruise ship (photo: Amy Bledsaw)
Half Moon Cay, Carnival's Private Island (photo: Ramonia Stith)
Parliament building on Danube river cruise 2019 (photo: Pam Bagwell)
Aboard the Pacific Princess (photo: Dennis Rockhill)
Photo captured from our Rhine River Cruise (before our stop in Rudesheim, Germany). Love the contrast of the town below with the castle above!
View from the cruise ship.(photo: Renee Weber)
Anthem of the Seas (photo: Ashlie Nevins)
Seven day cruise with my husband and oldest grandson to the bahama, Jamaica, ending in Cozumel, Mexico. (photo: Roberta Erlandson)
Beautiful Rainbow. Picture taken from Holland America Cruise ship. Mts in Chile. (photo: Thomas (Hank) Cook).
Pirate ship cruise at sunset on Ft Myers Beach (photo: Kathy Lammers)
This was taken from the balcony of our room on a Royal Caribbean cruise. It was early morning and we had gone out to drink our coffee and were thrilled by this sight. (photo: Judith Sharp)
View of Sarasota Florida bridge from deck of Manatee sunset cruise. (photo: Judith Lenart)
My Wife and I on an Alaskan Cruise Excursion. (photo: Dale Moore)
Air travel can be difficult in the best of times, with cramped planes, screaming babies, flight delays and short tempers.
Throw in a pandemic, and the anxiety level can rise quickly.
That has led to confrontations with flight attendants and other unruly behavior, including occasional fights that get captured and replayed endlessly on social media.
Airlines have reported about 3,000 cases of disruptive passengers since Jan. 1, according to a spokesman for the Federal Aviation Administration, which began tracking it this year. About 2,300 of those incidents involved passengers who refused to obey the federal requirement to wear a face mask.
Over the past decade, the FAA investigated about 140 cases a year for possible enforcement actions such as fines. This year, it was nearly 400 by late May.
Things have gotten so bad that the airlines and unions for flight attendants and pilots sent a letter to the U.S. Justice Department on Monday urging “that more be done to deter egregious behavior.”
“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,” the letter said, noting that the law calls for up to 20 years imprisonment for passengers who intimidate or interfere with crew members.
Trade group Airlines for America sent a separate letter to the Federal Aviation Administration acknowledging that the “vast majority of passengers” comply with the rules but “unfortunately, we continue to see onboard behavior deteriorating into heinous acts, including assaults, threats and intimidation of crewmembers that directly interfere with the performance of crewmember duties and jeopardize the safety and security of everyone onboard the aircraft.”
The FAA announced a “zero-tolerance” policy against disruptive behavior on flights back in January. The agency is attempting to levy fines that can top $30,000 against more than 50 passengers and has identified more than 400 other cases for possible enforcement.
U.S. airlines have banned at least 3,000 passengers since May of last year, and that doesn’t include two of the largest, American and Southwest, which decline to provide figures.
Airlines have stripped some customers of frequent-flyer benefits, and in rare cases pilots have made unplanned landings to remove unruly passengers. Pilots and flight attendants now routinely make pre-flight announcements to remind passengers about federal regulations against interfering with crews.
“All of that is helpful, and if we didn’t have that I can only imagine how much worse it would be,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants, “but this is clearly not taking care of the whole problem. We have to do a lot more. I have never, ever seen an environment like this.”
The fear among flight attendants is that things will get worse this summer, as travel continues to increase and planes get more crowded. The airline industry passed a milestone earlier this month when the Transportation Security Administration announced that more than 2 million people streamed through U.S. airport security checkpoints for the first time since early March 2020.
Airline bookings have been picking up since around February, as more Americans were vaccinated against COVID-19. Falling infection rates could, however, make it much harder for flight attendants to enforce the federal mask-wearing rule, which isn’t due to expire until mid-September.
Some security experts think lifting the mask requirement will remove a key source of tension — one with political overtones in a politically divided nation. But it could also raise the anxiety of people who worry about sharing space with strangers while we’re still in a pandemic.
“People on both sides of the issue are acting badly,” Nelson said.
