Steve Marcus
People make their way to McCarran International Airport on Thursday, July 2, 2020.
Monday, August 30, 2021 | 2 a.m
As many Las Vegas air travelers can attest, inbound flights into our city are sometimes a party in the sky.
This is great in and of itself – it speaks to the excitement tourists feel about coming here. But this year too many passengers on flights to and from our city have crossed the line from festive to warlike. Statistics released by the Federal Aviation Administration last week showed that recalcitrant passengers on flights to Las Vegas had amassed more than $ 100,000 in fines that year, roughly one-tenth the total of fines imposed nationwide. Flights to Las Vegas had the most fines of any destination.
The FAA hits these troubled passengers hard, with fines ranging from $ 9,000 to $ 39,000 for one. Most violations relate to failure to wear a face mask or drink alcohol that passengers brought on board, which is against FAA rules.
Here is to the FAA for taking tough action and sending a strong message that unruly behavior cannot be excused.
It is the responsibility of flight crews and compliant passengers.
Unfortunately for everyone involved, airline bad behavior has gone through the roof this year. The FAA reported that to date it handled 3,988 complaints from recalcitrant passengers and opened 693 investigations, more than four times the total investigations from 2019, the year before the pandemic resulted in widespread travel restrictions.
Flight crews, especially flight attendants, bear the brunt of this abuse. We have all seen viral videos of flight crew being physically assaulted and verbally abused by passengers for just doing their job trying to keep everyone safe and comfortable.
Meanwhile, non-masked passengers put everyone on the plane at risk of contracting COVID-19 or another disease. In a crowded environment, it is inexcusably reckless and selfish not to wear a mask during a pandemic. And while airlines filter the air circulated in the cabin, filtering is by no means a foolproof defense against the spread of disease.
Look, everyone wants air traffic to go back to normal, without masks and with a full drinks menu.
But that’s not the case right now, and for good reason.
Skipping a drink and wearing a mask for a few hours may not be the most comfortable way to fly, but the regulations in force are sensible and responsible. If you disagree, you will always find a different way of traveling.
In the meantime, we trust the FAA will continue to seriously address violations. Passengers need to know that they have to pay a heavy price to cross a line.
