SAN DIEGO — With a busy travel season underway, there are more and more disruptions in airports and on airlines than ever before according to the FAA. Airlines crews are more concerned about their safety and now they’re speaking up about the incidents.
It’s called Air Rage. It’s like road rage but on a plane and it’s been happening more and more on flights across the country. Now the FAA is speaking out about the incidents.
Millions of people have seen viral videos of passengers on planes attacking flight attendants, arguing with other passengers, and launching into fits of rage. One of the most recent attacks happened last month on a flight bound for San Diego and the flight attendant said she lost two of her teeth.
“So there have been tensions at the airports and on airplanes and we’ve seen those viral videos, and we just want to remind everybody that everybody just wants to get back out there, post-pandemic,” said Doug Shupe, AAA spokesperson.
The Association of Flight Attendants retweeted a strongly, worded statement on Monday from the FAA, saying:
The FAA is also reporting that there have been nearly 3,000 complaints of unruly passengers on airplanes just since January. At least 1,500 of those cases have been investigated, many involving having to wear a mask. The Association of Flight Attendants says they’ve tracked nearly 60 times the number of unruly passengers than we would have had in a typical year.
“People have an idea that on the plane it's a different set of rules. Not to mention all the stresses that people experienced over the last year, all the uncertainties that they went through. People are feeling like enough is enough and they're really acting out. And now they're getting out and wanting to be free, and the first thing they have in front of them is a combat for a mask,” said Sara Nelson, President of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA.
Some airlines have also decided not to serve alcohol in hopes of decreasing some of these violent incidents. Also, the federal mask mandate was supposed to end in May but it was extended for public transportation until September 13.
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