What is going on in the skies? It looks like some passengers need a refresher course in airline etiquette.
Flight attendants are apparently seeing bad and just plain obnoxious behavior, all made worse with summer flight delays and cancellations on the rise.
Footage of one instance showed a woman climbing over two seats to get to her window seat. She appeared to be wearing pajamas and socks as she stepped on arm rests to get to her seat.
“So she goes to the bathroom in her socks and then puts those disgusting things on my armrest? No thank you,” one person on Twitter commented.
But perhaps she had a legitimate reason for climbing over the seats; footage of the incident showed the man sitting next to her was holding a baby.
Passengers everywhere are apparently experiencing rude behavior, and in some instances, coming to blows over disagreements.
Video footage of altercations taking place in airports and in the sky continue to circulate the internet.
But behaving badly while traveling can leave a traveler with more than just a bad memory. In April, the U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) announced its zero-tolerance policy against unruly passengers was here to stay.
“Behaving dangerously on a plane will cost you; that’s a promise,” said Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen.
The FAA implemented the policy on Jan. 13, 2021, after seeing “a disturbing increase in unruly passenger incidents.”
There were 5,981 unruly passenger reports filed by the FAA in 2021.
“Unsafe behavior simply does not fly and keeping our Zero Tolerance policy will help us continue making progress to prevent and punish this behavior,” Nolen said.
Under the policy, the FAA issues fines to passengers for unruly behavior instead of warning letters or counseling. In 2021, $5 million in fines were issued against unruly passengers, the FAA said.
As of February, the FAA referred 80 unruly passenger cases to the FBI for criminal review. The agency is also working with the TSA to revoke TSA PreCheck from unruly passengers that are fined by the FAA.
Experts say having a little patience and a lot of good will can alleviate some of the stresses of traveling.