A woman who flew out of DFW International Airport on an American Airlines plane last summer was handed the largest unruly passenger fine to date for hitting and spitting on fellow passengers as well as crew members, the FAA said Friday.
The woman, who was not named, was fined $81,950 for her alleged behavior on a flight on July 7, 2021, between DFW International Airport and Charlotte, the two largest American Airlines hubs.
According to the Federal Aviation Administration, the woman fell into the aisle and then “hurt the flight attendant that offered to help.”
“The passenger then pushed the flight attendant aside and tried to open the cabin door,” the FAA said. “Two flight attendants tried to restrain the passenger, but she repeatedly hit one of the flight attendants on the head.”
Flight attendants tackled the woman and restrained her wrists and feet with “duct tape and what appeared to be zip ties,” a fellow passenger told The Washington Post about the incident.
The FAA said the woman was placed in flex cuffs, but she then “spit at, headbutted, bit and tried to kick the crew and other passengers.”
The woman was apprehended when the plane landed in Charlotte. The FAA did not say where the woman lives or whether or not her travel originated at DFW International Airport.
The fines were the largest ever sought by the FAA, which has given out about $2 million in proposed fines since the beginning of 2022. There have been 1,081 unruly passenger reports in 2022 and 159 cases referred to law enforcement, according to the FAA. That’s a slowdown from 2021, when there were nearly 6,000 reports and 350 enforcement actions initiated.
Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg announced the fines on The View talk show.
“If you are on an airplane, don’t be a jerk and don’t endanger the flight crews and fellow passengers,” Buttigieg said during the television appearance. “If you do, you will be fined by the FAA.”
In another incident announced Friday, the FAA fined a Delta Air Lines passenger $77,272 for a July 16 incident in which a woman “attempted to hug and kiss the passenger seated next to her; walked to the front of the aircraft to try to exit during flight; refused to return to her seat; and bit another passenger multiple times,” the aviation regulator said.
The fines were announced as flight attendants and others push for a proposed law that would increase criminal penalties for passengers who assault airline crew members and create a no-fly list for unruly passengers that could be shared among airlines.
