‘Our flights are under attack’: largest US flight attendants union calls for national no-fly list

The US’ largest flight attendants union has added to calls for a nationwide “no-fly” list where disruptive passengers can be named and shamed.

In a statement entitled “Violent Passengers Need to Be Grounded”, the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA cited recent incidents where cabin crew have been "punched, kicked, spit on, and sexually assaulted” in one of the worst spates of unruly passenger behaviour in history.

“Our flights are under attack by a small number of people and it has to stop. Just this past week an out of control passenger tried to open aircraft doors and charge the flight deck,” wrote president Sara Nelson in the statement, referring to an American Airlines incident on Sunday.

“We need clear and consistent rules with strict consequences for those who cannot respect our collective efforts to keep everyone safe - in the air and on the ground.”

“Our union continues to call for the creation of a centralised list of passengers who may not fly for a period of time after being fined or convicted of a serious incident.”

The AFA represents nearly 50,000 flight attendants at 17 airlines across the US.

Nelson called upon the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and Department of Justice to implement a plan for a no-fly list and “keep dangerous flyers on the ground”.

According to FAA data, 2021 was the worst year on record for disruptive passenger incidents in the US.

The institution last year recorded 5,981 unruly passenger incidents, with around 72 per cent of those sparked by people refusing to comply with mask-wearing rules; this year has already seen 394 passenger reports, with a similar percentage related to Covid requirements.

A nationwide no-fly list would mean listed passengers would be banned from flying on all US airlines, rather than just the airline on which they caused an altercation.

The TSA already enforces a “no fly” list for terrorists on a FBI database, but many airline bosses want a similar approach to disruptive or violent passengers.

US airlines such as Delta have also called for such a list, which would take a zero-tolerance approach to bad behaviour on planes, with passengers added after just one strike.

However, yesterday eight Republican senators including Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio and Rick Scott pushed back against the proposed list, saying it would unfairly equate mask refusers with terrorists.

“Creating a federal ‘no-fly’ list for unruly passengers … would seemingly equate them to terrorists who seek to actively take the lives of Americans and perpetrate attacks on the homeland,” the lawmakers wrote.

“The TSA was created in the wake of 9/11 to protect Americans from future horrific attacks, not to regulate human behavior onboard flights.”

In her Tuesday statement, AFA president Nelson emphasised the difference between the standard “mask row” and physical assaults on flight attendants, saying: “This is not about ‘masks’... the worst attacks have nothing to do with masks. You’re either for protecting crew and passengers from these attacks or you’re against.”