Unruly traveler complaints declined after airline mask mandate dropped

The number of complaints concerning unruly airline passengers has hit its lowest level in over a year in the week after the mask mandate on mass transit was struck down by a judge.

Figures from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) released last week show that after the Biden administration’s transportation mask mandate was voided, there were 1.9 complaints for every 10,000 flights for the week that ended on 24 April.

That’s lower than the average level for the last quarter of 2020 – before the federal mandate and the FAA starting to crack down on unruly passengers. The FAA didn’t say why the number of complaints has declined.

The numbers had been going down for weeks before increasing again two weeks before the mandate was struck down, The Washington Post reported. The numbers were already below the spike seen early last year.

But the latest figures could be an indication that the end of the mask mandate may have decreased animosity on planes.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention still recommend that passengers wear masks in mass transit but that recommendation is no longer mandated by law and it seems that not many airline passengers have continued to wear face coverings.

Texas Senator Ted Cruz said during a hearing with Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg that he estimated that on one of his recent flights from Houston to Washington, DC, about one in 10 people wore a mask. Mr Cruz asked Mr Buttigieg what he planned to do on his next flight.

“I’m not sure,” the secretary said. “It’ll depend on conditions that day. I don’t have a flight today, but next time I do, I’ll think it over.”

In terms of other methods of public transport, the situation appears to be different. Users of the public transport app Transit estimated that 80 per cent of travellers in San Francisco were wearing masks. On buses in Los Angeles, 74 per cent of riders wore masks. That figure was 44 per cent in New York, but only five per cent in Utah.

The FAA has called for around $2m in total fines this year against unruly passengers as its zero-tolerance policy remains in place.

The president of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA, which represents 50,000 flight attendants working for 18 airlines, has pushed for a bigger focus on alcohol issues and a federal list of banned fliers.

“The frequency of disruptive and violent passengers is still way higher than pre-pandemic, and there’s still a lot of work to do to stop or mitigate these incidents on planes,” Sara Nelson told The Post.

During the Senate Commerce Committee hearing, Mr Buttigieg told Mr Cruz that what’s most important “is that whether it’s on a flight or a bus or anywhere else, respect is shown to those who wear masks and to those who choose not to”.