WASHINGTON — The U.S. Department of Transportation’s Federal Aviation Administration announced Wednesday that it is making its Zero Tolerance policy against unruly passengers permanent.
The policy was first enacted on Jan. 13, 2021 in response to an increase in the number of passenger incidents on flights, the FAA said in a news release.
“Behaving dangerously on a plane will cost you; that’s a promise,” acting FAA administrator Billy Nolen said in a statement. “Unsafe behavior simply does not fly, and keeping our Zero Tolerance policy will help us continue making progress to prevent and punish this behavior.”
Wednesday’s announcement comes less than one month after the FAA levied its largest-ever fine against an airline passenger who attacked a flight attendant and tried to open a door mid-flight. That passenger was fined nearly $82,000, as we previously reported.
>> Read more: Passenger fined nearly $82,000 for ‘unruly behavior’ on flight
The FAA’s announcement comes days after a federal judge in Florida voided the national mask mandate that covered airplanes and other public transportation. Mask disputes accounted for more than 70% of the 5,981 reports of disruptive passengers the FAA received last year, CNBC reported.
>> Read more: Federal judge voids national mask mandate for travelers
The FAA said that it has so far referred 80 unruly passenger cases to the FBI for criminal review.
Since January 2021, the FAA has proposed fines totaling approximately $7 million for disruptive passengers, Reuters reported.