Pre-pandemic, figures recorded by the IATA indicated unruly airplane passengers were on the rise. Discussions about the issue were ramping up, and in 2019, the European Union Aviation Safety Agency (EASA) even launched and initiative called #notonmyflight, aiming to increase awareness.

During the peak Covid years, fewer flights didn’t equal fewer problems – at least not in the US, where reported incidents rose.

In early 2021, Federal Aviation Authority data reached what an FAA spokesperson said was “record highs,” with many altercations based around the then-mandated face mask rule.

As American flight attendant Susannah Carr told CNN Travel that year: "I come in expecting to have a passenger that could potentially get violent."

The number of reported incidents in the US have since fallen, but remain notably higher than pre-pandemic levels.

Plus, IATA and FAA data can only tell us so much (not every airline that's part of IATA submits data, while not every airline records every instance of unruly behavior).

Thus, the conversation around disruptive passengers, including the ones we see in these pictures remains heated.

IATA classifies unruly behavior incidents into four levels:

• Level 1 is “minor” (IATA’s 'Cabin Operations Safety Best Practice Manual' suggests this could be argumentative behavior or non-compliance with safety regulations);
• Level 2 is “moderate” (physically aggressive behavior, for example);
• Level 3 is “serious” (i.e. dangerous behavior, an “intent or threat to injure,” as IATA puts it);
• and Level 4 is “flight deck breach” (which IATA classifies as “credible threat of death).

According to the latest available IATA data from 2022, there was one unruly incident reported for every 568 flights that year, up from one per 835 flights in 2021.

The most common categorizations of incidents in 2022 were non-compliance, verbal abuse and intoxication. Physical abuse incidents remain very rare, but these had an alarming increase of 61% over 2021, occurring once every 17,200 flights.

Although non-compliance incidents initially fell after the mask mandates were lifted, the frequency began to rise again throughout 2022 and ended the year some 37% up on 2021. The most common examples of non-compliance were:

• Smoking of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes and puff devices in the cabin or lavatories;
• Failure to fasten seatbelts when instructed;
• Exceeding the carry-on baggage allowance or failing to store baggage when required;
• Consumption of own alcohol on board.

In their 2023 document called 'Even safer and more enjoyable air travel for all: A strategy for reducing unruly and disruptive passenger incidents,' IATA highlights that while “only a tiny minority” of passengers behave badly, these travelers “have a disproportionate impact.”