At this point, almost everyone who works in aviation has sounded the alarm on the increase in passengers who turn difficult, belligerent or outright violent.
The International Air Transport Association and the FAA have both put out one-strike action plans to crack down on dangerous behavior (the latest statistics show that the number of unruly passenger incidents rose to one in every 568 flights by 2022) while pilots and flight attendants have been taking to social media to implore travelers to be kinder even as they get frustrated.
Related: JetBlue flight attendant shares passenger horror stories
"We are looking to see how we can better combat the situation and I'm using the word combat in an interesting way because again when you have customers physically assault our airline employees it does become a fight or flight situation that's crucial to address," JetBlue (JBLU) -) flight attendant and Transportation Workers Union Local 579 President Tyesha Best recently told TheStreet.
Alteración del orden en vuelo Barranquilla-Miami de la aerolínea Spirit.
— Impacto News (@ImpactoNewsCol) December 17, 2023
Un pasajero fue expulsado del avión tras verse involucrado en una agresión física contra varios uniformados de la Policía. pic.twitter.com/iVZa0BQ9FR
'Disruption of order on the Spirit flight Barranquilla-Miami'
Another sitcom-worthy incident took place on a Spirit Airlines (SAVE) -) flight that was scheduled to leave for Miami from Barranquilla, Colombia. As first reported by Colombian news outlet Impacto News, a passenger started growing belligerent shortly after boarding. Police were called to the scene and tried to lead the traveler off the plane when he started throwing punches.
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The video, which was filmed by one of the other passengers aboard the plane and then reshared on the social media platform formerly known as Twitter by the news outlet, captures the passenger hitting a police officer as he is being restrained while other passengers scream and a baby cries. The traveler is also heard yelling obscenities and threats at other travelers in Spanish.
"Disruption of order on the Spirit airline flight Barranquilla-Miami," the news outlet wrote in the caption to the video. "A passenger was expelled from the plane after being involved in a physical attack against several uniformed police officers."
The traveler was eventually led off the plane and arrested so that the flight could proceed while Colombian authorities said that the traveler's accident was related to alcohol intake and concerned a custody battle over a child with a fellow traveler.
'Passenger is no longer welcome on any of our flights,' Spirit says
"This man is being prosecuted for the crime against a public servant and in the next few hours he will be placed at the disposal of the competent authorities," Colombian Police General Jorge Urqui told local news station Blu Radio.
Spirit also confirmed to news outlets that the man has been banned from any future Spirit flights due to his aggressive behavior.
"We do not tolerate aggressive behavior of any kind, and this passenger is no longer welcome on any of our flights," the airline said in a statement. "We will provide any necessary assistance to the relevant authorities as they investigate this matter.for comment."
The video also started quickly attracting social media attention as an example of the "passengers gone wild" stories that tend to go viral on different outlets every couple of months. A day after the video was posted on X, it was viewed nearly 6,000 times.
