US lawmakers look to prevent violent passengers from flying

Robert Besser
02 Apr 2023, 03:08 GMT+10

Bipartisan lawmakers will again push for legislation to ban passengers fined or convicted of serious physical violence from traveling on commercial flights
This week, Senator Jack Reed and Representative Eric Swalwell, both Democrats, and Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, said they plan to reintroduce the "Protection from Abusive Passengers Act"
The majority of unruly passenger behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic was due to the national mask mandate

WASHINGTON D.C.: After a series of high-profile incidents aboard US aircraft, several bipartisan lawmakers will again push for legislation to ban passengers fined or convicted of serious physical violence from traveling on commercial flights.

This week, Senator Jack Reed and Representative Eric Swalwell, both Democrats, and Republican Representative Brian Fitzpatrick, said they plan to reintroduce the "Protection from Abusive Passengers Act."

"The enhanced penalty is a strong deterrent and needed to improve aviation worker and passenger safety and minimize disruptions to the national aviation system, and restore confidence in air travel," they added.

In 2022, a no-fly list for unruly passengers was opposed by the American Civil Liberties Union, which stressed that the US government "has a terrible record of treating people fairly with regard to the existing no-fly list and other watch lists that are aimed at alleged terrorists."

The majority of unruly passenger behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic was due to the national mask mandate.

But lawmakers said that even after the mandate ended in April 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration still investigated 831 unruly passenger incidents in 2022, up from 146 in 2019, though down from 1,099 in 2021.

In 2022, the FAA received 2,456 reports of unruly passengers, less than half the 5,981 reports in 2021, which included 4,290 mask-related incidents. The FAA proposed $5 million in fines in 2021 and $8.4 million fines in 2022.

In February 2022, Delta Air Lines CEO Ed Bastian urged the US government to place passengers convicted of on-board disruptions on a national no-fly list.

After a sharp rise in onboard incidents in 2021, US Attorney-General Merrick Garland instructed federal prosecutors to prioritize investigations into airline passengers who committed assaults and other crimes aboard aircraft.

Watch latest videos

News RELEASES

Publish news of your business, community or sports group, personnel appointments, major event and more by submitting a news release to Manila Metro.

More Information

27 ℃

Fair in Manila/Aquino

Asia Pacific

Section

Japan: PM's son resigns for holding party at official residence

TOKYO, Japan: After coming under public criticism for using Japanese Prime Minister Fumio Kishida's residence for a private party, his ...

Washington coordinates 14-country supply chain agreement

WASHINGTON D.C.: The U.S. Commerce Department has said that trade ministers from 14 countries have taken part in the US-led ...

China, South Korea seek to expand cooperation in chip sector

DETROIT, Michigan: Amid broader global concerns over semiconductor chip supplies, sanctions and national security, Chinese commerce minister Wang Wentao said ...

Typhoon Mawar strikes Guam, much of island without power, water

GUAM: After Typhoon Mawar brought strong winds and torrential rains, large areas of the US Western Pacific territory of Guam ...

I have to raise the quality of my play: Kaoru Mitoma sets his target for next season

Brighton [UK], June 2 (ANI): Brighton and Hove Albion's Japanese winger Kaoru Mitoma has asserted that he will raise the ...

England coach McCullum believes Ashes can provide "relevance" to "captivate" youth for Test cricket

London [UK], June 2 (ANI): England coach Brendon McCullum thinks that Ashes can provide a platform to captivate youth and ...

International

Section