Melissa Yeager, The Arizona Republic
Phoenix airport had some 3,000 unruly passengers in past year
It's not just happening in the air. Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport has gotten nearly 3,000 calls about unruly passengers in the terminals as well as calls for police to meet flights arriving at the gate over the past year.
The calls range from people refusing to wear masks to intoxicated passengers and travelers interfering with flight crews and gate personnel.
On a couple of occasions, staff have even responded to reports of someone urinating in public.
The number of calls became public during a House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee hearing on unruly passengers on Sept. 23. U.S. Rep. Greg Stanton (D-Ariz.) cited the figure during his allotted time for questioning.
"Many of the incidents we've seen reported have been on planes while in flight, but we are also witnessing disruptions within our airports," Stanton said during the hearing.
He said that in the past year, Sky Harbor staff and Phoenix police have responded to almost 3,000 calls of customers being disruptive or assaulting employees or fellow passengers.
"This is a significant increase from the previous year and it is not uncommon for our local police to be called to meet a flight with a passenger who has disrupted or interfered with a flight crew," Stanton said.
Greg Roybal, spokesperson for the airport, confirmed the figure to The Arizona Republic and said it represented an increase of 800 calls over the previous year.
"Disruptions like this take staff away from other duties or responses, impacting customer service," Roybal said by email.
He said many actions can fall under the category of causing a disruption, including:
- People refusing to wear masks.
- Interfering with flight crews and airline gate personnel.
- Pushing, shoving and other assaults among travelers or upon workers.
- Domestic disputes.
- Intoxication.
- Erratic or suspicious behavior.
- Disturbing the peace.
- Urinating in public.
- Attempting to enter restricted areas.
In the wake of the pandemic, airlines have reported an increase of bad behavior on flights, with 4,385 reports of unruly passengers and 3,199 mask-related incidents made to the Federal Aviation Administration so far this year. The agency has introduced a no-tolerance policy and increased the penalties on those who interfere with flight crews.
Along with civil penalties of up to $37,000, passengers in violation could face criminal charges and lose their flying privileges.