According to IATA, there was one unruly incident reported for every 568 flights in 2022, up from one per 835 flights in 2021. The most common categorizations of incidents in 2022 were non-compliance, verbal abuse and intoxication. Physical abuse incidents remain very rare, but these had an alarming increase of 61% over 2021, occurring once every 17,200 flights.
Passengers and crew are entitled to a safe and hassle-free experience on board and for that to happen, all passengers must comply with crew instructions. it should be unacceptable that rules in place for everyone’s safety are disobeyed by a minority of passengers. "There is no excuse for not following the instructions of the crew,” said Conrad Clifford, IATA’s Deputy Director General.
IATA says that non-compliance incidents initially fell after the mask mandates were removed on most flights, but the frequency began to rise again throughout 2022 and ended the year some 37% up on 2021.
The most common examples of non-compliance were:
Smoking of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes and puff devices in the cabin or lavatories
Exceeding the carry-on baggage allowance or failing to store baggage when required
Failure to fasten seatbelts when instructed
Consumption of own alcohol on board
Two-pillar strategy
A two-pillar strategy is in place for the needed zero-tolerance approach to unruly behaviour.
Regulation: Ensure governments have the necessary legal authority to prosecute unruly passengers, regardless of their state of origin and to have a range of enforcement measures that reflect the severity of the incident. Such powers exist in the Montreal Protocol 2014 (MP14), and IATA is urging all states to ratify this as soon as possible. To date, some 45 nations comprising 33% of international passenger traffic have ratified MP14.
Guidance to prevent and de-escalate incidents: Prevent incidents through collaboration with industry partners on the ground (such as airports, bars and restaurants and duty-free shops), including, for example, awareness campaigns on the consequences of unruly behaviour. Additionally, sharing best practices, including training, for crew to de-escalate incidents when they occur. A new guidance document was published at the beginning of 2022 gathering best practices for airlines and providing practical solutions to governments on public awareness, spot fines, and fixing jurisdiction gaps.
“In the face of rising unruly incident numbers, governments and the industry are taking more serious measures to prevent unruly passenger incidents. States are ratifying MP14 and reviewing enforcement measures, sending a clear message of deterrence by showing that they are ready to prosecute unruly behaviour. For the industry’s part, there is greater collaboration. For example, as the vast majority of intoxication incidents occur from alcohol consumed prior to the flight, the support of airport bars and restaurants to ensure the responsible consumption of alcohol is particularly important.
“No one wants to stop people from having a good time when they go on holiday—but we all have a responsibility to behave with respect for other passengers and the crew. For the sake of the majority, we make no apology for seeking to crack down on the bad behaviour of a few travellers who can make a flight very uncomfortable for everyone else,” said Clifford.
The data was collated from over 20,000 reports submitted by around 40 airlines. While only a very broad global snapshot, this is the only comprehensive global database of unruly incidents, and it does give a clear idea of trends.
"To help combat bad inflight behaviour I would hope more airlines adopt Jet2's lead and charge the offending passenger with the true costs involved in dealing with their disruption, from billing them for the cost of everything from the extra fuel used to divert the aircraft, landing and take-off fees as well as the knock-on costs for delays in arrival and departure of following flights. The costs are incredible and often amount to figures of £85,000." our editor Jason Shaw said. "If people are aware that the costs of any bad, unruly or disruptive and dangerous behaviour will be billed to them, they may think twice about having those extra drinks in the airport lounge or secretly swigging from the bottle of booze purchased from the duty-free store (or onboard)"