I-Team: Flight Attendants Want National No-Fly List For Unruly Passengers
BOSTON (CBS) - Flight attendants say air rage incidents are disturbing and often dangerous. Flight attendant Thom McDaniel tells the I-Team recently a passenger broke through plastic handcuffs and had to be restrained with seatbelts. "It took six to seven people to strap somebody into a seat so they couldn't hurt anybody else," McDaniel said.
So far in 2021 the FAA says it has received nearly 5,000 reports of unruly behavior that in some cases resulted in arrests and fines totaling more than $1 million. The agency says it has a zero-tolerance policy for this type of behavior.
While individual airlines can ban unruly passengers, the I-Team has learned there is no coordination with other carriers to share that list. The FAA says it does not have a database or a no-fly list with names of disruptive passengers. Travelers the I-Team spoke to at Logan Airport say having a list of passengers who have been disruptive and unruly in the past and are no longer allowed to fly is a good idea.
For flight attendants, they say it comes down to safety for everyone. "I've lost count the times I've been insulted or threatened on a flight, simply for doing my job," said flight attendant Teddy Andrews.
The Transport Workers Union is now is demanding tougher penalties and wants congress to get involved.
"Our union has demanded that they create criminal penalties, we want them to elevate those penalties, to the point that they do include jail time, and we also want a national no-fly list," Thom McDaniel said. "Imagine being a flight attendant who goes to work and someone gets removed from your flight because they've tried to assault you or someone else and then you come back a week later and they're on a different flight."
The FBI does have no-fly lists of suspected terrorists, who are not allowed to fly on airlines. TSA also has a secret list of passengers who have been disruptive at security checkpoints, but it is for awareness only and doesn't prevent anyone from flying.
