The number of unruly passengers on U.S. flights is very high, says the FAA, so it is extending a policy of hardening masking

The number of unruly passengers on U.S. flights is very high, says the FAA, so it is extending a policy of hardening masking

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(CNN) – The Federal Aviation Administration will extend its stricter enforcement against undisciplined passengers – specifically targeting those who disobey masking policies – after receiving more than 500 reports of passengers who have misbehaved since December, the agency said on Monday.

“The number of cases we are seeing is still very high and that tells us that urgent action is still needed,” said FAA administrator Steve Dickson.

The announcement came when the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) said more people had traveled by plane in the past four days than during any other similar period during the pandemic.

TSA said it screened 1,344,128 people at airports on Sunday, meaning that 5.2 million have flown since Thursday. On Friday, 1,357,111 passengers were examined, the highest number in a single day since March 15, 2020.

While the increase in travel is good news for the struggling aviation industry, the increase in passenger numbers could mean an increase in incidents during flights.

FAA’s Dickson said he had instructed agency officials to consider both civil fines and criminal charges for reports of unruly passengers.

“I have decided to extend the FAA’s zero-tolerance policy to undisciplined passengers, while we continue to do everything we can to tackle the pandemic,” he said in a statement. “The policy directs our security inspectors and lawyers to take rigorous enforcement measures against any passenger that disrupts or threatens the safety of a flight, with penalties ranging from fines to imprisonment.”

The intensified application was set to expire at the end of the month, but will now remain in effect until the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention suspend their order demanding the use of face masks in public and commercial transport.

FAA reviewing more than 450 unruly passenger reports

The reporting period for the more than 500 complaints of undisciplined passengers included time around the Capitol riot. Previously, CNN had reported that several participants struggled to gain access to flights after the turmoil, with some being placed on no-fly lists.

The FAA is currently analyzing more than 450 cases and has already started taking action against undisciplined passengers in 20 cases, the agency said.

At least four fines were imposed on passengers under the strictest inspection policy, the largest being $ 27,500.

The agency said that fined individuals can respond to the agency and did not disclose the final amount paid by those individuals.

Passengers who have been fined so far are accused of, in addition to not wearing masks, assaulting flight attendants, shouting obscenities and drinking unapproved alcohol on airplanes.

In June, CNN reported that American Airlines had to temporarily suspend a passenger from its flights after the person refused to wear a face mask.
Other airlines have permanently banned passengers for not following the guidelines, including Delta, which has banned 460 anti-masks.

Although the FAA did not reveal how many cases it is suing against passengers, the agency said about a month ago that in all modes of transport it had received reports of “less than 1,000 passengers … refusing to wear a face mask”.

The president of a major union of flight attendants, who had asked for the extension of the policy, called it an “important deterrent”.

“The patchwork, the politically distorted discussion around the masks, has created confusion and conflict,” said Sara Nelson of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA. “We don’t have time to fail to fulfill the mandate of the federal mask. On a plane, this behavior puts everyone at risk and we cannot tolerate that.”

FAA penalties are distinct from those that the TSA can issue under a set of security directives.

CNN’s Pete Muntean contributed to this report.

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