FAA Levies Largest Fine to Date, as Congressmen Push for End to Mask Mandates

Washington, DC (WorkersCompensation.com) – The Federal Aviation Administration levied its largest fines ever, nearly $160,000, against two women arrested as “unruly passengers” in 2021. 

The proposed fines are just the latest in an estimated $2 million the agency has proposed since Jan. 1, 2022, as part of the FAA’s crack down on unruly passengers. In 2021, airlines reported more than 6,000 incidents of unruly passengers. As of April 4, airlines have reported 1,081 incidents of unruly passengers, 707 of which were related to mask wearing, the FAA said. 

The fines stem from two incidents in 2021. 

On July 7, a woman on an American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Charlotte threatened to hurt a flight attendant who offered to help her after she fell into the aisle. The passenger allegedly pushed the flight attendant aside and tried to open the cabin door, FAA officials said in a press release. Two other flight attendants then tried to subdue the passenger, but she instead retaliated, hitting one of the flight attendants repeatedly in the head. Flight crew members restrained the woman by duct taping her to her seat. Even after she was restrained, the FAA said, she spat at, headbutted, bit and kicked crew members and other passengers.   

The FAA recommended an $81,950 fine, the largest ever proposed.   

On July 16, 2021, a passenger on a Delta Air Lines flight from Las Vegas to Atlanta attempted to hug and kiss the passenger next to her. Officials said she also tried to exit the aircraft midflight. After refusing to return to her seat, the passenger bit another passenger multiple times to the point crew members were forced to restrain her. The FAA proposed a $77,272 fine for her behavior.  

"Federal law prohibits interfering with aircraft crew or physically assaulting or threatening to physically assault aircraft crew or anyone else on an aircraft," the FAA said. 

Buttigieg told “The View” co-host LeAnn Rimes on Monday. "It's another thing to endanger flight crews and to endanger fellow passengers. We have no tolerance for that.”   

Buttigieg said it while recent flight cancelations may make people mad, it wasn’t an excuse to “be a jerk.”   

Passengers have 30 days to the FAA’s proposed fines.  

The FAA’s announcement come as members of Congress are urging the White House to end the mask mandate on transportation employees and users. The mandate, set to expire on April 18, was extended in March by the Biden Administration.   

U.S. Sens. Roger Wicker, R-Miss., and Ted Cruz, R-Texas, joined U.S. Reps. Sam Graves, R-Mo., and Garret Graves, R-La., in asking President Joe Biden to end the federal mask mandate for transportation operators, employees and users.   

“Mask requirements related to the COVID-19 pandemic continue to be lifted around the country, and Americans are safely embracing their pre-pandemic lifestyles. With the Federal transportation mask mandate deadline nearly upon us, we write once again to urge you to rescind, or decline to extend, this unnecessary mask mandate and work with Congress to get our Nation’s transportation system back to normal,” the Congressmen wrote to Biden. “It is our belief that these inconsistent decisions further erode public trust in the Federal government, especially when transportation operators have taken significant steps to keep passengers safe. The American people have seen through the false logic that COVID-19 only exists on airplanes and public transportation.”