Rising Challenges: FAA's Battle Against Unruly Airline Passengers

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports a continued rise in unruly airline passenger incidents, with 915 cases in 2024 as of June 9, 106 due to intoxication. This follows a significant spike in 2021 related to mask mandates, maintaining a zero-tolerance policy.

The U.S. Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) said on Monday that unruly airline passenger incidents continue to rise and the agency vowed to maintain a zero-tolerance policy.

The FAA said 915 cases of unruly passengers were reported in 2024 through June 9, including 106 cases of passenger disturbances due to intoxication.

The number of unruly passengers spiked in 2021 to nearly 6,000 with the introduction of mask mandates but still remain about twice that of 2020 or earlier levels.