The Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA) "zero-tolerance policy" for addressing unruly passengers will become permanent even after a court ended transportation mask requirements, the agency said on Wednesday.
Highlights
- Federal Aviation Administration’s “zero-tolerance policy” for addressing unruly passengers will become permanent even after a court ended transportation mask requirements.
- A federal judge on Monday struck the down the 14-month-old transportation mask policy.
- Under the policy, the FAA issues fines to passengers for unruly behavior instead of warning letters or counseling.
- Since January 2021, there have been a record 7,200 unruly passenger incidents reported - and 70% involved the enforcement of masking rules.
- The FAA said it has referred 80 unruly airplane passengers to the FBI for potential criminal prosecution.
- The agency has proposed fines of about $7 million for disruptive passengers.