USA TODAY
The airline industry wants action to help bring down the number of unruly passengers who disrupt flights. The number of reported in-flight incidents has surged in recent years says the International Air Transport Association (IATA), which is calling for “a balanced package of measures” to battle the problem.
“The numbers have indeed risen alarmingly over the last year or two,” Tony Tyler, the CEO of the influential trade group, said during IATA’s annual general meeting.
Mr Tyler said IATA has been collecting data on in-flight incidents since 2007, though he says the information submitted by the airlines is done on a voluntary basis. Since 2010, there have been 20,000 unruly passenger incidents reported by airlines, according to IATA.
But 8000 of those incidents – or 40 per cent of all those reported since 2010 – came just last year.
The trade group has a wide definition for unruly behavior, which includes not obeying crew members, verbal confrontations and sexual harassment.
Mr Tyler said it’s unclear whether there’s an actual spike or if it’s that airlines are becoming more diligent about reporting them.
Among the things IATA would like to see are airline crews should be trained and more help from airport employees
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