Over the two years that passed since pandemic-related travel restrictions first began to ease, flight attendants and other industry insiders have increasingly been sounding the alarm about a rise in bad passenger behavior.
While numbers from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) show that there was one "unruly passenger" incident for every 835 flights in the U.S. in 2021, that number rose to one in every 568 flights in 2022. Fights, verbal abuse and the use "cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes and 'puff devices'" despite bans are some of the most common violations.
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"The increasing trend of unruly passenger incidents is worrying," IATA Deputy Director General Conrad Clifford said of the findings. "Passengers and crew are entitled to a safe and hassle-free experience on board."
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What Went Wrong On Frontier Flight To Vegas
Amid such statistics, new footage emerged of a catfight on a Frontier Airlines (FRON) -) flight from Philadelphia to Las Vegas. In the video, a woman in a red top is seen screaming "shut the f--- up!" before lunging toward another passenger and later trying to fight off the flight attendants trying to restrain her.
Other passengers on the flight told TMZ that the fight began when a passenger started yelling over a spilled drink.
"Don't f--ing touch me!" the woman in the red shirt is seen yelling all while the plane continues its journey to Las Vegas. The fight continued to escalate as other passengers started getting up to help break it up and Flight 2143 was eventually diverted to nearby Denver International Airport.
"Just get your s-- together so we can get home," another passenger is heard yelling in the video. When the plane landed, the two women directly involved in the fight were reportedly led off the plane by ground crew to the cheers and applause of the rest of the plane.
The New York Post reported that the women were not arrested but still left in Denver as the rest of the plane went on to Vegas.
Disruptive Passengers Getting Cheered Or Booed Off Planes
A similar situation occurred on another Frontier flight back in May. A passenger-filmed video of a woman leaning over several rows of seats to yell at another traveler and flight attendants on a flight from Trenton, New Jersey to Atlanta, Georgia went viral on TikTok over the ending: a fellow passenger asked anyone who wanted "her removed from the flight" to "raise [one's] hand."
At least half a dozen people were seen putting up their hands as a Frontier flight attendant walked down the aisle before ground crew members in orange vests entered the plane and led the woman and her partner off the flight. This was easier to do as the plane had not yet taken off.
"We can't unionize a Starbucks but we can damn sure do it on a Frontier flight," a commenter wrote under the viral TikTok video.
As the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) classifies an "unruly passenger" as someone "interfering with the duties of a crew member" in a way that violates federal law, not all the incidents that catch the attention of social media are officially classified as such by the airline.
