U.S. authorities report a decrease in the referral of unruly airline passengers to the FBI for potential prosecution compared to the pandemic period, yet they note that the incidence rate is still excessively high, The Associated Press reports. The Federal Aviation Administration said Wednesday that it referred 43 reports to the Federal Bureau of Investigation during the past year. That brings the total to more than 310 since late 2021. Airlines have reported more than 1,240 cases to the FAA this year, compared with nearly 6,000 in 2021. Relatively few of them are deemed serious enough to be passed along to the FBI for investigation and potential filing of criminal charges. The FAA said the rate of passenger misbehavior has dropped by more than 80% since early 2021, when many confrontations with flight attendants and other passengers started with travelers who objected to wearing a face mask during a deadly global pandemic.
A federal judge struck down the mask rule in 2022, leaving airlines, airports and mass transit systems to make their own decisions about mask requirements. The Biden administration did not appeal the decision. Airlines and Republican politicians urged the administration to let the rule die. Referrals in the past year included passengers who tried to break into the cockpit, assaulted airline crew members or other passengers, or threatened others on the plane. The FAA can propose civil penalties up to $37,000 but lacks authority to file criminal charges. The agency announced a “zero-tolerance policy” in January 2021 under which it levied fines instead of issuing warning letters. Late that year, it struck a deal with the FBI to increase prosecutions.
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