Mask fights and BYOB breaches: FAA proposes $64,500 in fines against five unruly airline passengers
zero tolerance for airline passengers behaving badly, it means business.
In what has become a weekly occurrence, the agency on Monday proposed fines totaling $64,500 against five passengers from incidents earlier this year on three U.S. airlines. The new penalties come a week after it proposed fines totaling $107,000 against four unruly passengers.To date this month, it has proposed $258,250 in total penalties.
The new infractions include mask struggles, a constant problem during the pandemic, and passengers bringing their own alcohol on board or sharing alcohol from first class.
“Wear a mask. It’s required. Period,” Sara Nelson, president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA International said in a statement on the latest proposed fines. “The freedom of flight depends on all of us following the rules and treating others with respect. Flight attendants are charged with the safety, health and security of everyone in the cabin. Our instructions to the traveling public keep everyone safe. Listen up and do your part. The consequences are steep if you do not, and the FAA isn’t playing around on this.”
The latest proposed fines:
► $15,000 against a passenger on a Feb. 22 JetBlue Airways flight from Miami to Los Angeles. The FAA alleges a passenger in economy class visited a friend in first class and brought back the free items served in the front of the plane, including champagne, food and a headset. The flight attendant carried the items back to first class, called Mint on JetBlue. The passenger followed the flight attendant to the first-class section and allegedly assaulted him with her body and almost pushed him into the bathroom, the FAA says. The flight was diverted to Austin, Texas, and the passenger was removed.