Passengers who interfere with crew members may face prison sentences and heavy fines.
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) will begin to impose stricter penalties for undisciplined airline passengers without notice, including “fines up to $ 35,000 and imprisonment”.
FAA administrator Steve Dickson signed the order on Wednesday instructing the agency to adopt a “zero tolerance policy” in cases of unruly passengers, after the agency saw a “disturbing increase in incidents” of passengers disrupting flights with “threatening or violent behavior”.
“Historically, the agency has handled undisciplined passenger incidents using a variety of methods ranging from warnings and advice to civil penalties,” the FAA said in a press release. “With immediate effect, however, the FAA will not handle these cases with warnings or advice. The agency will seek legal action against any passenger who attacks, threatens, intimidates or interferes with the airline’s crew members.”
“These incidents resulted from both the refusal of passengers to wear masks and the recent violence at the United States Capitol,” the agency said.
United Airlines told ABC News that it banned 60 people for mask violations just last week, which is higher than the previous week’s average.
Alaska Airlines banned 14 passengers on a single flight from DC to Seattle the day after the United States Capitol riot. The airline said passengers were not wearing masks and were chasing crew members.
Two days after the turmoil, videos showed passengers on an American flight en route from DC to Phoenix shouting “USA” and “Fight For Trump”, causing the pilot to threaten to divert the plane to Kansas if passengers did not “behave” . “
The pilot was “emphasizing the importance of following crew instructions and complying with mandatory facial coverage policies,” American Airlines said in a statement to ABC News.
On Sunday, federal air marshals had to intervene when a woman flying from Charlotte, North Carolina to Washington, DC, refused to wear a mask and shouted in the corridor about “tyranny”. American Airlines confirmed that the woman is now banned from the airline pending further investigation.
“First attack and you’re out,” said Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. “We congratulate FAA administrator Dickson for taking this clear position regarding our safety and security. This will help to serve as an impediment to unruly passengers who were violating aviation safety rules. We continue to work with our airlines, the FAA, TSA and law enforcement to keep our skies safe. “
The new FAA policy will remain in effect until March 30. The agency said it “has initiated more than 1,300 enforcement actions against unruly passengers” in the past decade, “including recent cases of allegedly interfering and assaulting flight attendants who instructed them to wear masks.”
Gio Benitez, Sam Sweeney and Amanda Maile of ABC News contributed to this report.