With air traffic returning to near pre-pandemic levels, recalcitrant passengers have to collect fines related to flight incidents on board.
Last year, the Federal Aviation Administration fined travelers more than $ 1 million for alleged wrongdoing, the agency said.
Of 34 new cases announced last week – mostly related to alcohol use or refusal to wear masks – nine of them had Las Vegas links, with fines totaling $ 113,000, or about 11 percent of the total fine pool FAA.
No other city has seen as many new cases as Las Vegas, despite flights to or from Florida cities accounting for 17 fines.
“We have seen incidents related to alcohol, violence against flight attendants, and behavior in general,” FAA Administrator Steve Dickson said in a video statement. “The law requires you to follow all instructions from your flight attendants. Passengers who fail to do so are subject to severe penalties, which can include heavy fines and imprisonment. “
Two of the incidents resulted in two $ 15,000 fines on two passengers on the same Frontier Airlines December 2 flight from Las Vegas to Denver for drinking alcohol that was not served by the airline. The FAA said the two men drank the liquor in front of flight attendants even after flight attendants warned them it was illegal. The police met the men at the gate when their flight landed.
On January 29, a trio of women on a Frontier flight from San Diego to Las Vegas were fined $ 13,000 each for allegedly drinking in front of flight attendants and failing to comply with the mask mandate. Two of the three women are said to have interfered with the flight crew while wearing masks.
Once a traveler receives a fine from the FAA, they have 30 days to respond to the agency.
The incidents are part of 3,889 reports of recalcitrant behavior on flights and 2,867 reported incidents of passengers who fail to comply with the federal mask mandate.
The Transportation Security Administration announced last week that its mask mandate would be extended from September 14th to January 18th.
McCarran International Airport spokesman Chris Jones said airport officials had stepped up efforts to prevent passengers from taking alcohol on flights, which the airport has long enforced.
“Gate attendants make pre-boarding announcements to remind travelers not to bring alcohol on planes, and they can refuse boarding if a customer does not comply,” said Jones. “This has long been the practice at LAS and recently we worked with local airline management to repeat this expectation with good results. This was discussed again and again in conversations with the management of the metro (police) at the airport, so the officers here are well prepared for this topic. “
Jones said the airport shared the FAA’s social media push to make passengers aware of their responsibilities and airport staff were working on new messages to support the campaign.
“It’s a multi-faceted effort,” said Jones.
Contact Mick Akers at makers@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2920. Follow @mickakers on Twitter.
