TSA prepares for unruly travelers as complaints of disruptive passengers increase

As rising COVID-19 vaccinations bring more visitors to Hawaii, the Transportation Security Administration restarted flight crew self-defense training this month after a 62% increase in unruly and aggressive passenger complaints during the first six months of 2021, including physical attacks and verbal confrontations over enhanced safety measures brought on by the pandemic.

The program was paused due to pandemic restrictions, but airlines serving every domestic market are reemphasizing safety, deescalation techniques and other protocols after TSA received 3,210 unruly-passenger reports as of June 29, opening 491 investigations and 61 enforcement cases.

In 2019 and 2020, TSA opened only 329 investigations into passengers behaving badly on passenger flights.

“Passengers do not arrive at an airport or board a plane with the intent of becoming unruly or violent; however, what is an exciting return to travel for some may be a more difficult experience for others, which can lead to unexpected, and unacceptable, behaviors,” said TSA Senior Official Performing the Duties of the Administrator Darby LaJoye in a statement announcing the training. “We appreciate our continued partnership and coordination with the FAA and stand together in a unified position of zero- tolerance with respect to attacks against our employees. Through this training program, TSA’s Federal Air Marshals are able to impart their specialized expertise in defending against and de-escalating an attack while in an aircraft environment. While it is our hope that flight crew members never have need for these tactics, it is critical to everyone’s safety that they be well-prepared to handle situations as they arise.”

The Crew Member Self Defense Training Program provides four hours of training, at no cost, to active crew members of all domestic scheduled carriers for potential physical altercations both on and off the aircraft, according to TSA. Trainees learn verbal and physical techniques to tone down confrontations and defend themselves if passengers attack.

Assaulting or threatening a member of a flight crew is a federal offense, and anyone convicted faces civil penalties, criminal fines or prison time. With unruly- passenger incidents on the rise, TSA is working quickly to retrain flight crews.

Hawaiian Airlines reported 256 cases of unruly passenger behavior so far this year, and 116 passengers have been banned from flying with the carrier for more one year in connection with those incidents, Tara Shimooka, manager of external communications for the airline, told the Honolulu Star-Advertiser.

“Our flight attendant trainers attend TSA self-defense courses, and we have incorporated elements of the classes, including conflict management and de-escalation techniques, into our initial and annual recurrent security trainings. We appreciate that most of our guests understand their role in keeping themselves, fellow passengers and our crew safe when traveling with us. When incidents do occur, we take them seriously,” Shimooka said.

The in-flight incidents crews are training for include everything from people refusing to wear their masks to individuals attempting to enter cockpits after attacking an attendant.

On June 21, United Flight 2062 was flying from San Francisco to Honolulu when passengers reported a female passenger shouted at flight attendants who repeatedly reminded her to wear a mask.

The Federal Aviation Administration alleges that a passenger on Dec. 23 tried to open the cockpit door on a Delta flight from Seattle to Honolulu, repeatedly refused to comply with crew members’ instructions and then punched a male flight attendant in the face before shoving him to the floor.

The passenger then threatened the flight attendant by charging at him as he was trying to restraint the individual. Flight attendants, with the help of another passenger, placed plastic handcuffs on the disruptive passenger, who later got free and hit the flight attendant a second time. Police boarded the plane after it landed and took the passenger into custody, according to the FAA.

The passenger faces a $52,500 civil fine for the behavior.

These altercations interrupt travel and delay flights and other transportation operations across the country, according to TSA.

“What most people fail to realize is that flight attendants are primarily there for your safety and the safety of the flight,” said Jaci-Ann Chung, president of the local executive council of the Association of Flight Attendants “They see the hospitality and the serv­ices, but we are primarily there to ensure a safe flight. A few bad apples ruin it for everyone else. We ask what the company asks, that passengers comply with state and federal regulations. That’s what you agree to when you purchase a ticket.”

Passengers must realize that buying the ticket locks them into whatever flight rules and policies are in place at the time of purchase. Many passengers are excited to travel, but that changes to anxiousness and frustration for some upon arriving at the airport and realizing that they have to keep a mask on in the airport and throughout their flight except when eating and drinking.

Face mask compliance is easily the most common reminder passengers receive, Chung said, especially since Hawaii maintains stricter quarantine and emergency orders than a lot of mainland markets.

“We’ve had additional stressors that other carriers haven’t had because of the state of Hawaii’s emergency quarantine laws,” she said. “No. 1, we are safety professionals. That is our key role.”