By Luke Bodell

Disruptive behavior is still a significant problem in the post-COVID era.

Unruly passengers have been a growing problem in the aviation industry, with incidents rising during the pandemic and continuing into this year.

• Organizations like ICAO and IATA play a crucial role in implementing global changes to address unruly passengers, such as through the MP14 Protocol.
• Collaboration among various industry stakeholders, improved incident reporting, and enhanced training for crew members are important strategies to effectively deal with unruly passengers.

Stories and videos of unruly passengers have unfortunately been on the rise in the last few years, putting the safety of passengers and crew at risk. At the IATA World Security and Operations Conference (WSOC) earlier last month, industry leaders laid out their plan of action to tackle the problem.

Unruly passengers over the pandemic

The aviation industry experienced a sharp rise in disruptive passengers during the pandemic. Most incidents were related to masks, but there was also a concerning rise in incidents of an aggressive nature.

With many aviation markets returning to something resembling normality in 2022, one would hope the situation would start improving. However, incidents involving unruly passengers persisted – the latest IATA figures reveal that an incident occurred every 568 flights in 2022 – up from one per 835 flights in 2021 – while incidents involving physical aggression also went up by over 60% year-on-year.

The COVID-era had a unique effect on the mental health of passengers, and this translated to more disruptive incidents in the cabin and on the ground. On top of this, a polarized geopolitical environment (particularly regarding mask-wearing) primed many passengers for conflict, with factors like alcohol only making situations worse.

What is being done?

A lot is required from all areas of the industry if unruly passengers are to be dealt with effectively. For effective action on a global scale, organizations like the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and the International Air Transport Association (IATA) are key to engendering industry-wide changes.

MP14

ICAO is welcoming more states to its Montreal Protocol 2014 (MP14), which grants jurisdiction to deal with unruly passengers regardless of nationality or flight origin – without this, it is difficult to enforce action against offending passengers, leading to them escaping any punishment.

IATA has voiced its support for the protocol, which now has around 45 signatories. This represents just 33% of international passenger traffic, something the industry is eager to expand upon.

Industry collaboration

IATA is pushing for increased collaboration across the industry, including airport authorities, retailers, and other groups. With many in-flight incidents occurring after intoxication before boarding, bars, restaurants, and duty-free shops need to be involved in the process.

Improved reporting

The industry can collectively learn from each incident with diligent incident reporting. IATA has the Incident Data Exchange, a shared platform for incident reporting – however, report quality is not always consistent, and not all airlines use it, so there is room for improvement.

Training innovations

Amid widespread staffing problems, it is now more important than ever to ensure crews are well-prepared for unruly passengers. With so many new recruits to the industry, there are more inexperienced crew members who will benefit greatly from better training.