Since the pandemic, incidents with unruly passengers on airlines have escalated.
There were almost 6,000 reports in 2021, nearly five-times as many as a year earlier, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration.
Over the next three years, the number of incidents remained roughly twice the amount reported pre-pandemic.
Up to September 28, there have been 1,205 reports this year. That’s already more than in 2020, although it’s an encouraging sign that the numbers are falling.
“Incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior are an ongoing problem and airlines have seen rapid growth in occurrences since 2021,” the FAA says on its page for such statistics.
“The rate of unruly passenger incidents steadily dropped by over 80% since record highs in early 2021, but recent increases show there remains more work to do,” it adds.
The International Civil Aviation Organization defines a disruptive passenger as one “who fails to respect the rules of conduct at an airport or on board an aircraft or to follow the instructions of the airport staff or crew members and thereby disturbs the good order and discipline at an airport or on board the aircraft.”
It also classifies them into four levels. Business Insider has laid out the levels below, including an example of each type of disruption.
1. Disruptive behavior
The lowest classification of unruly passenger involves being verbally disruptive. That could include swearing or threatening other travelers or crew, and refusing to follow the crew’s instructions.
In 2023, a bachelor party delayed their flight for three hours after harassing the crew and other passengers.
The seven men, including the groom-to-be wearing a pilot’s costume, were on a TUI plane to the Bulgarian resort of Sunny Beach.
After being told they weren’t allowed to drink alcohol on board, the men swore at other passengers who asked them to quiet down. When a flight attendant warned them, “they cheered her loudly and wolf-whistled her,” one passenger told WalesOnline.
Security removed the men from the flight, while confusion over the passenger manifest extended the delay.
2. Physically abusive behavior
The second level involves physically abusing other passengers or the crew. That could include hitting, grabbing, and spitting.
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In May, an American Airlines flight attendant was assaulted by a passenger, an FBI agent’s affidavit said.
About 30 minutes into the journey, Julius Jordan Priester grabbed a flight attendant by the collar and “forcefully brought the victim to the ground,” it added.
It says Priester, 24, then tried to drag them down the aisle before other passengers intervened. The flight landed back in Hartford, Connecticut, just over an hour after taking off.
3. Life-threatening behavior
This is when an unruly passenger is so violent that they could put somebody’s life at risk. It also includes the use or display of a weapon.
Last year, an Alaska Airlines passenger stabbed an off-duty law enforcement officer with an improvised weapon, an FBI agent’s affidavit said.
It added that Julio Alvarez Lopez admitted he made the weapon before the flight by bundling pens together with a rubber band.
As the plane began descending, Lopez went to the bathroom and then came out and started attacking the victim, leaving “blood everywhere,” per the affidavit.
4. Attempted or actual breach of the cockpit
The most serious level of unruly passenger involves trying to enter the flight deck without permission — or indeed gaining entrance.
Last year, Alaska Airlines cabin crew had to use a beverage cart to stop a passenger from entering the cockpit, prosecutors said.
Court documents said Nathan Jones tried three times to open the cockpit door on a flight from San Diego to Washington, DC.
When a flight attendant asked him why, Jones is said to have replied that he “was testing them.”
Off-duty law-enforcement officers “restrained Jones in flex cuffs and sat on either side of him,” while cabin crew barricaded the cockpit door with the cart.
