10 airline passengers accused of unruly behavior fined more than $225K

WASHINGTON — The Federal Aviation Administration this week announced fines totaling nearly a quarter-million dollars against 10 people accused of violent, unruly behavior on commercial flights.

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Several of the incidents involved passengers accused of attacking or screaming at flight attendants.

One passenger, a woman who got on a Southwest Airlines flight from Boston to Chicago on Feb. 3, is accused of spitting on a crew member after being ordered off the flight for refusing to stow her carry-on luggage. Officials said the woman “sat in a seat, held onto the armrest, shouted loudly and aggressively, and used derogatory language and obscene gestures” toward a crew member before police met her at the gate.

Another woman was fined $32,000 after she allegedly threw trash at a flight attendant and snatched cookies from another passenger during a Horizon Air flight from Austin, Texas, to San Francisco on May 18. Officials said the woman also “punched and screamed at her husband and son repeatedly, diverting flight attendants from their duties.”

A man was fined nearly $27,000 after being accused of trying to get into the cockpit of a Southwest Airlines flight from New York City to Chicago and later punching a flight attendant hard enough that the attended required medical attention. Officials also fined a passenger on a March 20 American Airlines flight from Cancun, Mexico, to Indianapolis $9,000 after he stomped on or kicked at the feet of the passenger seated behind him, according to the FAA.

Another man, who boarded a Jan. 4 Delta Air Lines flight from New York to Los Angeles, was fined $20,000 after officials said he yelled at flight attendants as the plane taxied from the gate, refused to wear his seatbelt while the “fasten seatbelt” sign was on and threatened a flight attendant. The plane was forced to return to the gate, where law enforcement officers boarded the flight to remove the man, FAA officials said.

Another man, who was on a Nov. 7, 2020, JetBlue Airlines flight from Newark, New Jersey, to Fort Lauderdale, Florida, was fined $17,500 after he allegedly pushed a crew member and yelled for him to “get his fat (expletive) out of my face.” The captain diverted the plane to Richmond, Virginia, where police met the man at the gate.

Several of the incidents also included passengers who became violent after refusing or ignoring orders to wear masks while on flights.

A woman accused of elbowing and kicking a flight attendant as he was picking up trash on a March 28 Southwest Airlines flight from New Orleans to Baltimore was fined $24,000. Another woman who refused to wear a mask and threatened and cursed at crew members and allegedly shoved one on a Dec. 27, 2020, Delta Airlines flight from Detroit to Salt Lake City was also fined $24,000. Meanwhile, another woman was also fined $24,000 for allegedly shoving a flight attendant on a Jan. 21 American Airlines flight from Tampa, Florida, to Miami after the plane’s captain requested that she be removed for refusing to wear her face mask.

Officials said another woman who refused to wear a face mask on a March 11 American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Aspen, Colorado, was fined $23,000 after she realized her seat would not recline and proceeded to yell at and “verbally abuse” flight attendants. The woman was also accused of hitting a flight attendant once and attempting to do so a second time. Law enforcement officials met her at the arrival gate, according to the FAA.

Officials said the fines were part of the FAA’s zero tolerance campaign against unruly passenger behavior. Reports of unruly behavior in the air have sharply dropped since the campaign launched in January, though officials said the number of incidents remains high. As part of the campaign, officials bypass their regular process of sending warning letters in favor of immediately fining unruly passengers. So far, officials have proposed more than $1.45 million in fines against passengers, CNN reported.

As of Tuesday, the FAA has received nearly 5,115 reports of airline passengers acting out, including 3,710 that involved disputes over wearing masks.

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