"Chaos as Sky Opens"... Global In-Flight Disturbances Increase by 47%

Daily Average Surges from 84 to 155 Cases
Frequent Issues Include Crew Instruction Noncompliance, Verbal Abuse, and Intoxication

As COVID-19 restrictions have eased and international travel has increased, an analysis has revealed a global rise in in-flight disturbances.

According to the aviation industry on the 11th, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) announced this information at the 79th Annual General Meeting held from the 4th to 6th (local time) in Istanbul, Turkey.

According to the announcement, last year there were 1.76 cases of in-flight disturbances per 1,000 flights worldwide (1 case per 568 flights). This represents an approximately 47% increase from 1.2 cases per 1,000 flights (1 case per 835 flights) in 2021.

The total number of in-flight disturbance incidents by year was not disclosed, but based on global flight numbers announced by IATA in March citing the global aviation data provider OAG, there were 25.7 million flights in 2021 and 32.2 million flights last year.

Based on this, the estimated number of in-flight disturbance incidents, which was about 30,800 in 2021, increased to approximately 56,600 last year, nearly doubling. This translates to an increase from an average of 84 cases per day to 155 cases per day.

Recently, a Japanese passenger on a Taiwanese passenger plane was removed after shouting at flight attendants and causing a disturbance. In Korea, a passenger caused a major issue by opening the emergency exit of an Asiana Airlines passenger plane just before landing. Additionally, in the United States, a passenger was removed from a domestic flight after verbally abusing parents because their infant was crying on board.

Looking at the types of in-flight disturbances that frequently occurred last year, ‘non-compliance with crew instructions,’ including smoking and not wearing seat belts, was the most common, followed by ‘verbal abuse’ and ‘in-flight intoxication.’

Non-compliance increased by 37%, from 0.224 cases per 1,000 flights in 2021 to 0.307 cases last year. During the same period, the frequency of verbal abuse and in-flight intoxication increased by 61% and 58%, respectively.

IATA explained, “Cases of non-compliance temporarily decreased in most airlines after the mask-wearing mandate was lifted, but increased again throughout last year.”

IATA urged, “To reduce in-flight disturbances, countries worldwide should ensure that passengers who cause disturbances on board can be punished in the country of arrival regardless of the aircraft’s nationality.” They also added, “Ratifying the ‘Montreal Protocol 2014’ (MP14), which specifies airlines’ rights to claim damages caused by in-flight disturbances, is the best course of action.”

MP14 is intended to supplement the 1963 Tokyo Convention, which grants jurisdiction over in-flight disturbance incidents to the country where the aircraft is registered. It came into effect after meeting the ratification condition of 22 countries in January 2020, and currently, 45 countries including France, Switzerland, Egypt, and Kenya have joined.

However, there are criticisms that its effectiveness is low because major aviation countries such as the United States, the United Kingdom, China, and Japan have not ratified MP14. This appears to be due to reluctance to allow their nationals to be punished according to foreign standards. Korea has also not yet joined MP14.

IATA argued, “The more countries ratify MP14, the more in-flight disturbances can be handled under unified global guidelines, increasing deterrence.”

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.