Big flight fines: Airlines, police launch campaign demanding respect for workers

Australia’s airlines have reported a huge surge in bad behaviour on flights – and it’s leading to a crackdown on unruly passengers.

Travellers are being urged to keep their behaviour in check at airports and on planes, as airlines report they’ve experienced a dramatic increase in abuse since the beginning of the coronavirus pandemic.

A campaign demanding respect for frontline workers in the aviation industry is being launched by four major airlines in tandem with the Australian Federal Police, the Civil Aviation Safety Authority and the nation’s airports.

Peter Gibson from the Aviation Safety Authority says there has been a “big increase in the number of incidents in recent months, and indeed, over the last few years”.

Speaking to the ABC today, Mr Gibson outlined the statistics and called for passengers to cool it throughout the holiday season and beyond. He says some airlines had seen “about a 15 per cent rise”.

“It is all sorts of things – it is people being abusive, it is people being physically aggressive, it is people damaging property – all things which are, obviously, unacceptable,” he said.

“In many cases, they are against the law, and of course can, in flight, put safety at risk.

“We think it is related to the pandemic. People are obviously under a lot of stress. Then, you have got on top of that all the restrictions and requirements such as mask wearing and, for some people, that just means that the stress builds up during their travels.

“It comes out in bad behaviour. Now, it is kind of understandable, but it is certainly not acceptable.”

Mr Gibson said some incidents were sparked by something as small as brushing someone’s back while putting luggage into the overhead compartments.

“We have had ones where cabin crew were moving luggage in the overhead looker to make room for someone to put their bags up and a person has started abusing them for touching their backs,” he said.

“We have had another where someone was – a crew member – was reminding someone to wear a mask, and was abused, and then physically grabbed for having the temerity to tell them to follow the rules. So, it is really silly behaviour.”

Mr Gibson said harsh new measures and even jail time were being threatened for passengers who disrupt flights to such an extent that they have to be rerouted.

“If you are disrupting the flight, you are distracting the crew from its duty. The pilots have got to turn the aircraft around and land somewhere else because they have got to offload the passenger who is misbehaving,” he said.

“That costs tens of thousands of dollars, and people are now on notice that the airlines may well seek to recover that money from you, and of course, when you get off the aircraft, you will be met with the police and you could be met with big fines, or in serious cases, even face the courts and a potential jail sentence.”

Several videos of unruly passengers have made their way onto social media in recent months.

In October, a man accused of causing a disturbance and smoking on a flight from Darwin allegedly attacked a police officer after the plane landed at Adelaide Airport.

Passengers applauded as the 54-year-old Mawson Lakes man was escorted from the Jetstar plane. He was charged with multiple offences and will face court next month.

Australian Federal Police officers were called to meet the flight in Adelaide following reports of his behaviour during the flight.

Police allege they were speaking with the man when he allegedly became aggressive and attacked one of the officers.

The penalties for unruly and bad behaviour on an aircraft are backed by the civil aviation safety regulators. They have introduced fines ranging from “a bit over $1000 to over $11,000”.

“If you break those, in serious cases, we could see prosecution,” Mr Gibson said.