Disruption in the Skies: The Surge in Air Rage and Its Effects on Workers, Airlines, and Airports, House hearing transcript (September 23, 2021), GovInfo CHRG-117hhrg49704, PDF
Summary
The Subcommittee on Aviation of the House Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure convened this remote hearing (117-25) on September 23, 2021, on the surge in air rage and its effects on workers, airlines and airports. Witnesses included Sara Nelson, International President of the Association of Flight Attendants; Teddy Andrews, a flight attendant at American Airlines; and Christopher R. Bidwell of Airports Council International. Material printed with the hearing says the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) had 4,184 unruly passenger reports in 2021 as of September 7, 2021, while the TSA screened 367,547,059 passengers. Of those reports, the FAA had initiated 752 investigations and 153 enforcement cases. A member's statement, citing the FAA, puts 75 percent of the incidents down to mask noncompliance.
Summary drafted by a model from the document's text below and checked by script against that text before publication. It is a navigation aid, not a reading of what the document proves. Where AI is used
Full text
DISRUPTION IN THE SKIES: THE SURGE IN AIR
RAGE AND ITS EFFECTS ON WORKERS, AIR-
LINES, AND AIRPORTS
(117–25)
REMOTE HEARING
BEFORE THE
SUBCOMMITTEE ON
AVIATION
OF THE
COMMITTEE ON
TRANSPORTATION AND
INFRASTRUCTURE
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
ONE HUNDRED SEVENTEENTH CONGRESS
FIRST SESSION
SEPTEMBER 23, 2021
Printed for the use of the
Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure
(
Available online at: https://www.govinfo.gov/committee/house-transportation?path=/
browsecommittee/chamber/house/committee/transportation
U.S. GOVERNMENT PUBLISHING OFFICE
49–704 PDF WASHINGTON : 2023
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COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE
PETER A. DEFAZIO, Oregon, Chair
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, SAM GRAVES, Missouri
District of Columbia DON YOUNG, Alaska
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas ERIC A. ‘‘RICK’’ CRAWFORD, Arkansas
RICK LARSEN, Washington BOB GIBBS, Ohio
GRACE F. NAPOLITANO, California DANIEL WEBSTER, Florida
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky
ALBIO SIRES, New Jersey SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania
JOHN GARAMENDI, California RODNEY DAVIS, Illinois
HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., Georgia JOHN KATKO, New York
ANDRÉ CARSON, Indiana BRIAN BABIN, Texas
DINA TITUS, Nevada GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York DAVID ROUZER, North Carolina
JARED HUFFMAN, California MIKE BOST, Illinois
JULIA BROWNLEY, California RANDY K. WEBER, SR., Texas
FREDERICA S. WILSON, Florida DOUG LAMALFA, California
DONALD M. PAYNE, JR., New Jersey BRUCE WESTERMAN, Arkansas
ALAN S. LOWENTHAL, California BRIAN J. MAST, Florida
MARK DESAULNIER, California MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin
STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
SALUD O. CARBAJAL, California JENNIFFER GONZÁLEZ-COLÓN,
ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland Puerto Rico
TOM MALINOWSKI, New Jersey TROY BALDERSON, Ohio
GREG STANTON, Arizona PETE STAUBER, Minnesota
COLIN Z. ALLRED, Texas TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee
SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas, Vice Chair DUSTY JOHNSON, South Dakota
JESÚS G. ‘‘CHUY’’ GARCÍA, Illinois JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey
ANTONIO DELGADO, New York MICHAEL GUEST, Mississippi
CHRIS PAPPAS, New Hampshire TROY E. NEHLS, Texas
CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania NANCY MACE, South Carolina
SETH MOULTON, Massachusetts NICOLE MALLIOTAKIS, New York
JAKE AUCHINCLOSS, Massachusetts BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas
CAROLYN BOURDEAUX, Georgia CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida
KAIALI‘I KAHELE, Hawaii MICHELLE STEEL, California
MARILYN STRICKLAND, Washington
NIKEMA WILLIAMS, Georgia
MARIE NEWMAN, Illinois
TROY A. CARTER, Louisiana
(ii)
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SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION
RICK LARSEN, Washington, Chair
STEVE COHEN, Tennessee GARRET GRAVES, Louisiana
ANDRÉ CARSON, Indiana DON YOUNG, Alaska
SHARICE DAVIDS, Kansas THOMAS MASSIE, Kentucky
KAIALI‘I KAHELE, Hawaii SCOTT PERRY, Pennsylvania
NIKEMA WILLIAMS, Georgia JOHN KATKO, New York
HENRY C. ‘‘HANK’’ JOHNSON, JR., Georgia BRIAN J. MAST, Florida
DINA TITUS, Nevada MIKE GALLAGHER, Wisconsin
SEAN PATRICK MALONEY, New York BRIAN K. FITZPATRICK, Pennsylvania
JULIA BROWNLEY, California TROY BALDERSON, Ohio
DONALD M. PAYNE, JR., New Jersey PETE STAUBER, Minnesota
MARK DESAULNIER, California TIM BURCHETT, Tennessee
STEPHEN F. LYNCH, Massachusetts JEFFERSON VAN DREW, New Jersey
ANTHONY G. BROWN, Maryland TROY E. NEHLS, Texas
GREG STANTON, Arizona NANCY MACE, South Carolina
COLIN Z. ALLRED, Texas BETH VAN DUYNE, Texas
CONOR LAMB, Pennsylvania, Vice Chair CARLOS A. GIMENEZ, Florida
ELEANOR HOLMES NORTON, MICHELLE STEEL, California
District of Columbia SAM GRAVES, Missouri (Ex Officio)
EDDIE BERNICE JOHNSON, Texas
JOHN GARAMENDI, California
PETER A. DEFAZIO, Oregon (Ex Officio)
(iii)
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CONTENTS Page
Summary of Subject Matter .................................................................................... vii
STATEMENTS OF MEMBERS OF THE COMMITTEE
Hon. Rick Larsen, a Representative in Congress from the State of Wash-
ington, and Chair, Subcommittee on Aviation, opening statement ................. 1
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 4
Hon. Garret Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State of Lou-
isiana, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on Aviation, opening state-
ment ...................................................................................................................... 5
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 7
Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in Congress from the State of Or-
egon, and Chair, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure, opening
statement .............................................................................................................. 8
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 8
Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress from the State of Missouri,
and Ranking Member, Committee on Transportation and Infrastructure,
prepared statement .............................................................................................. 67
Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Representative in Congress from the State
of Texas, prepared statement .............................................................................. 67
WITNESSES
Sara Nelson, International President, Association of Flight Attendants—
CWA, AFL–CIO, oral statement ......................................................................... 10
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 12
Teddy Andrews, Flight Attendant, American Airlines, on behalf of the Asso-
ciation of Professional Flight Attendants, oral statement ................................ 19
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 21
Christopher R. Bidwell, Senior Vice President of Security, Airports Council
International–North America, oral statement ................................................... 23
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 24
Lauren Beyer, Vice President of Security and Facilitation, Airlines for Amer-
ica, oral statement ............................................................................................... 26
Prepared statement .......................................................................................... 28
SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD
Statement of Donielle Prophete, Ground Service Agent, Piedmont Airlines,
and President, Communications Workers of America Local 3645, Submitted
for the Record by Hon. Peter A. DeFazio ........................................................... 68
Statement of Paul Hudson, President, FlyersRights.org, Submitted for the
Record by Hon. Garret Graves of Louisiana ...................................................... 69
(v)
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SEPTEMBER 21, 2021
SUMMARY OF SUBJECT MATTER
TO: Members, Subcommittee on Aviation
FROM: Staff, Subcommittee on Aviation
RE: Subcommittee Hearing on ‘‘Disruption in the Skies: The Surge in Air
Rage and its Effects on Workers, Airlines, and Airports’’
PURPOSE
The Subcommittee on Aviation will meet on Thursday, September 23, 2021, at 10
a.m. EDT in 2167 Rayburn House Office Building and virtually via Zoom for a hear-
ing titled, ‘‘Disruption in the Skies: The Surge in Air Rage and its Effects on Work-
ers, Airlines, and Airports.’’ The hearing will examine the increase in disruptive and
unruly airline passenger behavior, the potential causes of the increase, the effect on
passenger and airline crew safety, airline crew training in deescalating and address-
ing such passenger behavior, and the enforcement of federal laws prohibiting such
behavior. The Subcommittee will hear testimony from the Association of Flight At-
tendants—CWA (AFA); the Association of Professional Flight Attendants (APFA);
the Airports Council International (ACI)–North America; and Airlines for America
(A4A).
BACKGROUND
I. SURGE IN AIR RAGE CASES IN 2021
Passengers are increasingly returning to the skies as the COVID–19 pandemic re-
cedes in many parts of the nation. Although hundreds of thousands of passengers
travel through the aviation system every day without incident the rate in unruly
behavior among passengers has risen by a large proportion.1 These ‘‘air rage’’ cases
have ranged from passengers refusing to wear airline- and federally-mandated face
coverings, to attempts to open airplane doors and flight deck doors during flight, to
physical and sexual assaults against airline crew members.2 A recent survey by the
AFA, querying more than 5,000 flight attendants across mainline and regional air-
lines, found that 17 percent of flight attendants—nearly one in five—reported a
1 Francesca Street, Dread at 30,000 feet: Inside the increasingly violent world of U.S. flight
attendants, CNN (Sept. 6, 2021), available at https://www.cnn.com/travel/article/flight-attend-
ants-unruly-passengers-covid/index.html.
2 Associated Press, FAA seeks $100,000 in fines from travelers who have tried to open a cockpit,
hit a flight attendant, refused masks, USA TODAY (Sept. 13, 2021), available at https://
www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2021/05/20/southwest-delta-flight-travelers-face-faa-
fines-100000/5174212001/.
(vii)
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physical incident with a passenger.3 Fifty-eight percent reported experiencing at
least five incidents of unruly passenger behavior this year, and 85 percent said they
had experienced at least one such incident this year.4
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reports that as of September 7, 2021,
there have been 4,184 unruly passenger reports since the beginning of the 2021 cal-
endar year.5 During that same time, the Transportation Security Administration
(TSA) reported that 367,547,059 passengers were screened at airport security check-
points, meaning that while unruly passenger reports have increased significantly
this year, they cover only 0.001 percent of the travelling public.6 Of those reports,
the FAA has initiated 752 investigations and 153 enforcement cases.7 Compared to
prior calendar years—with the FAA initiating only 183 investigations in 2020 and
146 in 2019—that’s an increase of 411 and 515 percent respectively.8 According to
the FAA, among those events for which an underlying cause could be identified, 75
percent of reported unruly passenger incidents were attributed to some element of
mask non-compliance while only 6 percent could be attributed to alcohol consump-
tion.9 Compared to the last 15 years, the number of investigations initiated so far
this year is still more than double the highest number of yearly investigations initi-
ated—304 investigations in 2004.10 Additionally, the FAA’s database only includes
incidents that have been reported to the FAA and such reporting is at the discretion
of a crewmember.11
A. Examples of Incidents
In the last 10 months, actions taken by unruly passengers onboard aircraft have
posed a significant safety risk to passengers and crew members. Below are some of
the most egregious alleged cases in which civil penalties or criminal enforcement are
being pursued.
Delta Airlines flight from Honolulu to Seattle (December 23, 2020).12 A passenger
tried to open the cockpit door and refused to follow instructions from crew members.
At one point, after the passenger allegedly hit a flight attendant in the face and
pushed him to the floor, the passenger threatened and charged the flight attendant
as he tried to restrain the passenger. Flight attendants, with the help of another
passenger, put plastic handcuffs on the passenger. The passenger was able to free
himself from one of the handcuffs and allegedly struck the flight attendant in the
face a second time. The passenger was taken into custody and arrested after the
plane landed. The FAA has proposed a $52,500 civil penalty.13
Southwest Airlines flight from Phoenix to Chicago (January 1, 2021).14 A pas-
senger yelled and said he had a bomb and would blow up the plane. The pilots made
an unplanned landing in Oklahoma City, where the passenger was arrested. The
FAA has proposed a $27,000 civil penalty.15
Southwest Airlines flight from Orlando to Kansas City (January 2, 2021).16 A pas-
senger became angry and began assaulting passengers around him after another
passenger in his row would not change seats to accommodate his travel partner. The
passenger told his travel partner he would need to bail the passenger out of jail for
the physically violent crimes he threatened to commit. The captain returned the
3 Ass’n of Flight Attendants, ‘‘85 percent of Flight Attendants dealt with unruly passengers,
nearly 1 in 5 experienced physical incidents in 2021’’ (July 29, 2021), at https://www.afacwa.org/
unrulylpassengerslsurvey.
4 Id.
5 FAA, ‘‘Unruly Passengers,’’ available at https://www.faa.gov/datalresearch/pas-
sengerslcargo/unrulylpassengers/.
6 See TSA, ‘‘TSA checkpoint travel numbers (current year versus prior year(s)/same weekday),’’
(last accessed Sept. 17, 2021), available at https://www.tsa.gov/coronavirus/passenger-throughput
7 Id.
8 Id.
9 Email from FAA to Subcommittee Staff (Sept. 15, 2021).
10 Id.
11 Id.
12 Associated Press, FAA seeks $100,000 in fines from travelers who have tried to open a cock-
pit, hit a flight attendant, refused masks, USA TODAY (Sept. 13, 2021), available at https://
www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2021/05/20/southwest-delta-flight-travelers-face-faa-
fines-100000/5174212001/.
13 FAA, Press Release, FAA Proposes Civil Penalties against Four Passengers for Allegedly
Interfering with Flight Attendants (May 17, 2021), available at https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/
faa-proposes-civil-penalties-against-four-passengers-allegedly-interfering-flight-0
14 Id.
15 Id.
16 Kylie Bielby, Unruly Passenger Incidents Skyrocket, Proposed Civil Penalties Reach $1 Mil-
lion in 2021, HOMELAND SECURITY TODAY (Aug. 20, 2021), available at https://www.hstoday.us/
featured/unruly-passenger-incidents-skyrocket-proposed-civil-penalties-reaches-1-million-in-2021/
.
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plane to the gate where law enforcement met the passenger. Southwest banned the
passenger from flying with the carrier in the future. The FAA has proposed a
$32,500 civil penalty against the passenger.17
Frontier Airlines flight from Atlanta to New York City (January 3, 2021).18 A pas-
senger physically assaulted two flight attendants and threatened to kill one of them
in an attempt to gain entry to the flight deck. Law enforcement met the passenger
after deplaning and he now faces a $30,000 FAA civil penalty.19
Alaska Airlines flight from Seattle to Denver (March 9, 2021).20 A passenger re-
fused to wear a mask and then stood up and urinated in the cabin of the airplane.
According to the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the passenger appeared to
be trying to sleep but swatted at an attendant when she asked him repeatedly to
put on his mask. The passenger told the FBI that he had several beers and ‘‘a cou-
ple of shots’’ before boarding the flight, fell asleep on the plane and awoke to being
yelled at by the flight attendants who told him he was urinating. He stated he had
no recollection of hitting the flight attendant and didn’t know he was urinating. The
FBI arrested the passenger, and he now faces a federal charge of interfering with
a flight crew and attendants, which carries a maximum term of 20 years in prison
and possible $250,000 fine.21
JetBlue flight from New York City to Orlando (May 24, 2021).22 A passenger
threw his carry-on luggage at other passengers, before he then laid down in the
aisle and refused to get up. After the passenger grabbed a flight attendant by the
ankles and put his head up her skirt, he was placed in flex cuffs and the flight made
an emergency landing in Richmond, Virginia. The FAA has proposed a $45,000 civil
penalty.23
Frontier Airlines flight from Philadelphia to Miami (July 31, 2021).24 A passenger
made inappropriate physical contact with a flight attendant and subsequently
punched another flight attendant in the face. As a result, the passenger was re-
strained to his seat using duct tape until the flight landed in Miami and law en-
forcement arrived. The passenger was charged with three counts of battery and
taken to Miami-Dade County Jail–TGK Correctional Center.
American Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City (September 6, 2021).25
While the aircraft was still in flight, an intoxicated passenger thought the aircraft
had landed, which caused him to become irate and argue with flight attendants.
After a member of the crew ordered the passenger to sit down and stay in his seat,
he staggered backward, invoked the name of the President Biden, and continued to
protest. While a recording of the incident shows the passenger finally sitting down,
the video also shows him baring his teeth, growling, and biting his mask while
growling, and then biting his mask and dragging it up and down over his face also
while growling. Later, he was recorded once again standing in the aisle again telling
the rest of the passengers that they were ‘‘all being used as pawns.’’ The passenger
was cited for disorderly conduct and public intoxication.
B. Recent Enforcement
With the FAA Administrator signing an order on January 13, 2021, establishing
a ‘‘zero-tolerance’’ policy with respect to unruly and dangerous behavior on aircraft,
17 FAA, FAA Fines Against Unruly Passengers Reach $1M, Press Release (Aug. 19, 2021),
available at https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-fines-against-unruly-passengers-reach-1m
18 Id.
19 Id.
20 Associated Press, Airline passenger faces federal charge with a possible $250,000 fine for re-
fusing to wear mask, urinating in cabin, USA TODAY (Mar. 13, 2021), available at https://
www.usatoday.com/story/travel/airline-news/2021/03/13/mask-required-alaska-airlines-flight-pas-
senger-arrested/4683230001/.
21 Id.
22 Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, Here’s How Much A JetBlue Passenger Was Fined For Putting His
Head Up A Flight Attendant’s Skirt, Forbes (Aug. 19, 2021), available at https://www.forbes.com/
sites/suzannerowankelleher/2021/08/19/passenger-head-up-flight-attendants-skirt/
?sh=1e5c21f3e017.
23 FAA, FAA Fines Against Unruly Passengers Reach $1M, Press Release (Aug. 19, 2021),
available at https://www.faa.gov/newsroom/faa-fines-against-unruly-passengers-reach-1m
24 Man duct-taped to seat for allegedly touching flight attendants on Frontier flight, ABC 7 NY
(Aug. 3, 2021), available at https://abc7ny.com/philadelphia-to-miami-flight-assault-maxwell-
berry-assaulting-attendant-inappropriately-touching/10926843/.
25 Hannah Simpson, Growling passenger is arrested after removing mask, demanding to be let
off plane, WASH POST (Sept. 8, 2021), available at https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2021/
09/08/american-airlines-growling-passenger/.
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the FAA has pursued some of the highest penalties in its history for these viola-
tions.26 Below are some examples.
Southwest Airlines flight from Sacramento to San Diego (May 23, 2021).27 A pas-
senger repeatedly ignored standard in-flight instructions and became verbally and
physically abusive upon landing. Video shows the passenger sitting in an aisle seat
at the back of the plane, jumping up and hitting the flight attendant multiple times.
In the video, the passenger continues swinging at the flight attendant until another
passenger intervenes, putting himself between her and the flight attendant. The
flight attendant lost two teeth. Upon landing, San Diego Harbor Police arrested the
passenger and charged her with felony battery. The passenger has now been
charged with two federal felonies: assault resulting in serious injury and inter-
ference with a crewmember. The first charge carries a maximum sentence of 10
years in prison, while the second is punishable by as many as 20 years.
Delta Airlines flight from Los Angeles to Nashville (June 4, 2021).28 A passenger
attempted to breach the flight deck mid-flight. According to passenger testimony,
the passenger, seemingly unprovoked, got up, pushed aside flight attendants and
began pounding on the flight deck door, repeatedly yelling: ‘‘We need to land this
plane.’’ The passenger was quickly taken down by another passenger, who was then
assisted by the flight attendants. The passenger was held down for twenty minutes
and bound by his wrists and ankles. Nonetheless, he continued to yell, ‘‘Stop this
plane.’’ The plane made an emergency landing in Albuquerque, New Mexico. The
passenger was arrested by the FBI, taken into custody, and charged with interfering
with a member of a flight crew. At his federal detention hearing on in June, the
passenger’s attorney argued that he suffered an ‘‘acute mental break’’ during the
flight.
United Airlines (SkyWest) flight from Los Angeles to Salt Lake City (June 25,
2021).29 As the flight was readying to take off from Los Angeles, a passenger leaned
over to the passenger sitting next to him and whispered that he was going to jump
out. He then sprinted to the front of the plane and tried to enter the flight deck,
banging on the door. When he was unsuccessful, he opened an emergency exit door
and leapt out of the plane. According to the complaint, the passenger had been
smoking crystal meth on and off that day before boarding this flight. The passenger
was charged with interfering with crewmembers.
II. LAWS, REGULATIONS, AND ENFORCEMENT
A. Federal Aviation Administration
The FAA possesses explicit statutory authority to pursue civil enforcement action
against any passenger who assaults a crewmember or another passenger, or who
otherwise commits any act that endangers the safety of the aircraft.30 Through reg-
ulation, the FAA also prohibits interference with crewmembers in the performance
of their duties.31 The 2018 FAA Reauthorization Act increased the fine for violations
of these prohibitions to not more than $37,000.32 Interference with crewmembers’
performance of his or her duties by assault or intimidation is also a federal crime
punishable by up to 20 years in prison.33
‘‘Zero Tolerance’’ Policy. On January 13, 2021, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson
issued an order directing FAA inspectors and enforcement staff to pursue a ‘‘zero
tolerance’’ policy regarding enforcement of the prohibitions on interference with
crewmembers and other unruly conduct on board aircraft.34 In issuing the order, the
Administrator cited increased disruptive behavior by passengers stemming from
26 FAA Order 2150.3C CHG 6, SUBJ: FAA Compliance and Enforcement Program (Mar. 31,
2021), available at https://www.faa.gov/regulationslpolicies/orderslnotices/index.cfm/go/docu-
ment.information/documentID/1034329.
27 Julian Mark, A Southwest passenger was filmed punching a flight attendant. She was
charged with two felonies, WASH. POST (Sept. 3, 2021), available at https://
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/09/03/vyvianna-quinonez-federal-charges/.
28 DOJ, Airline passenger charged with interfering with flight crew, Press Release (June 9,
2021), available at https://www.justice.gov/usao-nm/pr/airline-passenger-charged-interfering-
flight-crew.
29 Julian Mark, Man who jumped from a moving plane at LAX tells FBI he bought ‘a lot’ of
crystal meth before the flight, WASH POST (June 29, 2021), available at https://
www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/06/29/los-angeles-airport-cockpit-breach/.
30 49 U.S.C. § 46318.
31 14 C.F.R. § 121.580.
32 P.L. 115–254 § 339 (2018); see also 14 C.F.R. §§ 91.11, 121.580, and 125.328.
33 49 U.S.C. § 46504.
34 FAA Order 2150.3C CHG 6, SUBJ: FAA Compliance and Enforcement Program (Mar. 31,
2021), available at https://www.faa.gov/regulationslpolicies/orderslnotices/index.cfm/go/docu-
ment.information/documentID/1034329.
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both refusal to wear masks and the attack on the U.S. Capitol the week before.35
Under the policy, ‘‘passengers who assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with
a crewmember in the performance of a crewmember’s duties in violation of [the fed-
eral prohibitions on these acts]’’ will be subject to civil penalties.36 The order directs
that the FAA’s preexisting presumption of ‘‘compliance counseling’’ and other admin-
istrative actions short of formal civil-penalty actions against violators may not be
used to address these violations.37
Outreach. In an effort to address some of the issues related to unruly passengers,
Administrator Dickson sent a letter to airports across the country requesting that
airports work with their concessionaires to amplify the FAA’s prohibition on con-
suming alcoholic beverages not served by crewmembers on board flights.38 The let-
ter also highlighted the issue of state and local law enforcement failing to file crimi-
nal charges after unruly passenger events.39 In addition, the FAA has developed a
‘‘Zero Tolerance for Unruly and Dangerous Behavior Toolkit’’ to amplify messages
to stakeholders regarding unruly passengers and to decrease air rage incidents.40
This toolkit includes suggestions for airport digital signage, public service announce-
ments, and social media memes.41
B. Transportation Security Administration (TSA)
The TSA’s primary role is to protect transportation facilities and assets (including
airports and airplanes) from terrorist and criminal threats.42 The TSA is responsible
for setting the required security and training standards for airlines and airline
crews to manage unruly passengers via its Aircraft Operator Standard Security Pro-
gram (AOSSP).43 The AOSSP provides general guidance on the security programs,
equipment, and employee training that airlines are required to implement in order
to operate. This training includes initial and recurrent security training. The
AOSSP’s requirements are not prescriptive; each airline is granted flexibility in the
development of its own specific curriculum to meet the program requirements.
The TSA is also responsible for enforcing the federal requirement that individuals
wear masks throughout commercial and public transportation systems, including at
airport screening checkpoints, within the airports themselves, and on commercial
airplanes.44 The TSA reports that as of July 2021, there had been over 85 assaults
on transportation security officers (TSO) in 2021.45 In July alone, large U.S. airlines
carried 73.4 million passengers.46 So, while a very rare occurrence, such assaults
are serious and must be addressed. In June 2021, the TSA referred two incidents
involving unruly passengers to law enforcement officials.47 In one incident, a pas-
senger allegedly assaulted two TSOs while attempting to breach the exit lane in
35 David Shepardson, Exclusive: U.S. FAA chief orders ‘zero tolerance’ for disruptive airline
passengers, possibly jail, REUTERS (January 13, 2021) available at https://www.reuters.com/arti-
cle/us-usa-election-aviation-exclusive/exclusive-u-s-faa-chief-orders-zero-tolerance-for-disruptive-
airline-passengers-possibly-jail-idUSKBN29I302; see also FAA, Press Release—Federal Aviation
Administration Adopts Stricter Unruly Passenger Policy, (January 13, 2021) available at https://
www.faa.gov/news/presslreleases/newslstory.cfm?newsId=25621.
36 FAA Order 2150.3C CHG 6, https://www.faa.gov/documentLibrary/media/Order/
FAAlOrderl2150.3ClCHGl6.pdf.
37 Id.
38 Letter from FAA Administrator Dickson to Airport Leaders (Aug. 3, 2021), available at
https://www.faa.gov/datalresearch/passengerslcargo/unrulylpassengers/toolkit/media/Let-
terltolairportslFINALlsigned.pdf.
39 Id.
40 FAA, Zero Tolerance for Unruly and Dangerous Behavior Toolkit (last accessed Sept. 14,
2021), available at https://www.faa.gov/datalresearch/passengerslcargo/unrulylpassengers/
toolkit/.
41 Id.
42 CRS, R46678, Transportation Security: Background and Issues for the 117th Congress (Feb.
2021).
43 TSA, Aviation Programs: Aircraft Operator Standard Security Program (Full Program) and
Public Charters (last accessed Sept. 16, 2021), available at https://www.tsa.gov/for-industry/avia-
tion-programs.
44 TSA, ‘‘Face Mask Requirements: Security Directives and Emergency Amendment,‘‘ (last
accessed September 7, 2021), available at https://www.tsa.gov/sd-and-ea.
45 David Shepardson, U.S. Inflight Disturbances jump 500%, 85 TSA Officers Assaulted—agen-
cy, REUTERS (July 20, 2021), available at https://www.reuters.com/world/us/us-agencies-report-
rising-number-unruly-airline-passengers-2021-07-20/
46 U.S. Department of Transportation Bureau of Transportation Statistics, U.S. Airlines July
2021 Passengers (Preliminary), available at: https://content.govdelivery.com/accounts/USDOT/
bulletins/2f1c72e.
47 TSA, Press Release, TSA reminds passengers to remain calm and respectful at security
checkpoints (June 24, 2021), available at https://www.tsa.gov/news/press/releases/2021/06/24/tsa-
reminds-passengers-remain-calm-and-respectful-security
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xii
Louisville, Kentucky. In the other incident, a passenger allegedly bit two TSOs.48
In each case, the passengers face civil penalties of up to $13,910 for violation of TSA
security requirements.49
The hearing will examine the recent rise in reports of air rage incidents and the
effect these incidents have on the aviation workforce, airlines, and pilots. Witnesses
will also have the opportunity to share recommendations for federal government
prevention, response, and enforcement.
WITNESSES
• Sara Nelson, International President, Association of Flight Attendants—CWA
• Teddy Andrews, Flight Attendant at American Airlines (appearing on behalf of
the Association of Professional Flight Attendants)
• Christopher R. Bidwell, Senior Vice President, Safety, Airports Council Inter-
national–North America
• Lauren Beyer, Vice President, Security and Facilitation, Airlines for America
48 Id.
49 Id.
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DISRUPTION IN THE SKIES: THE SURGE IN
AIR RAGE AND ITS EFFECTS ON WORKERS,
AIRLINES, AND AIRPORTS
THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 23, 2021
HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES,
SUBCOMMITTEE ON AVIATION,
COMMITTEE ON TRANSPORTATION AND INFRASTRUCTURE,
Washington, DC.
The subcommittee met, pursuant to call, at 10:03 a.m., in room
2167 Rayburn House Office Building and via Zoom, Hon. Rick Lar-
sen (Chairman of the subcommittee) presiding.
Members present in person: Mr. DeFazio, Mr. Larsen, Mr.
Garamendi, Mr. Kahele, Mr. Cohen, Mr. Graves of Louisiana, Mr.
Perry, Mr. Burchett, Mr. Nehls, Mr. Mast, Mr. Katko, and Mr.
Stauber.
Members present remotely: Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Brown,
Ms. Williams of Georgia, Ms. Davids, Ms. Norton, Mr. Stanton, Mr.
Garcı́a of Illinois, Ms. Johnson of Texas, Mr. Payne, Mr. Lynch, Mr.
Allred, Mr. Lamb, Ms. Titus, Mr. DeSaulnier, Mrs. Steel, Mr.
Massie, Dr. Van Drew, Mr. Gimenez, Mr. Fitzpatrick, and Ms. Van
Duyne.
Mr. LARSEN. The subcommittee will come to order.
First, I ask unanimous consent that the chair be authorized to
declare a recess at any time during today’s hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
I also ask unanimous consent Members not on the subcommittee
be permitted to sit with the subcommittee at today’s hearing and
ask questions.
Without objection, so ordered.
As a reminder, please keep your microphones muted unless
speaking. And if we hear any inadvertent background noise, I will
request that Members please mute their microphone.
Also a reminder, to insert a document into the record, please
have your staff email it to DocumentsT&I@mail.house.gov, and
that is ‘‘T’’ with the ampersand and then ‘‘I.’’
So good morning, and welcome to today’s witnesses joining the
Aviation Subcommittee’s hearing titled, ‘‘Disruption in the Skies:
The Surge in Air Rage and Its Effects on Workers, Airlines, and
Airports.’’
As the Nation works to get to the other side of the COVID–19
pandemic, the surge in public air rage incidents has exacerbated
the already tenuous workforce situation in our aviation sector and
eroded confidence in air travel. These incidents have also put the
(1)
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2
safety of frontline workers, passengers, and the Nation’s aviation
system at risk, and could potentially lead to further safety issues.
Unruly passenger behavior is not necessarily new. From 2015 to
2020, the FAA initiated a total of 786 investigations into unruly
passenger behavior. However, through the first 9 months of 2021,
the FAA has initiated 789 investigations.
Airlines have filed 4,385 unruly passenger complaints since the
beginning of the calendar year, including 3,199 mask-related com-
plaints.
As Sara Nelson will testify from the AFA–CWA, frontline avia-
tion workers have to deal with everything from vulgar language,
including racial epithets, to punching, kicking, biting, shoving, and
spitting from passengers. This behavior is from a small percentage
of the traveling public, but it is disgusting, it is unacceptable, and
it is a danger to fellow passengers, to crew, and the entire U.S.
aviation system.
Congress, the Federal Government, and the aviation industry
must work together to protect airline crews, airport staff, and the
traveling public from passenger outbursts, while also preparing for
the next public health and national security crises.
As subcommittee chair, I made aviation safety and enhancing the
air travel experience for passengers and crews a priority. Three
years ago, I worked with then-subcommittee chair, Frank LoBi-
ondo, and others to pass the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018,
which increased the maximum civil penalty per unruly passenger
violation by 48 percent, to $37,000.
When incidents began to rise after the January 6th attack on the
Capitol, Chair DeFazio and I encouraged FAA Administrator
Dickson to use the full weight of Federal law to protect airline pas-
sengers and crews ahead of the inauguration.
Earlier this year, the FAA announced a series of measures to
combat passenger issues, including a zero-tolerance policy and a
public awareness campaign that showed noticeable results.
But Congress and Government agencies can only do so much. I
was encouraged to see this week that FAA urged airlines to take
additional steps to address this issue, though there is confusion
about what FAA is asking of airlines and others in the aviation
sector.
I look forward to hearing from today’s witnesses about the en-
forcement of U.S. laws prohibiting such behavior and what more
Congress and agencies can do to support frontline workers.
A public health response must lead economic recovery, and as
one thing that we can learn from today is that lessons learned from
the ongoing pandemic show the urgent need for a national aviation
preparedness plan to improve the safety of aviation crews, employ-
ees, and passengers to minimize disruptions to the national avia-
tion system and restore confidence in air travel.
And I would ask Members to consider supporting my bill, the Na-
tional Aviation Preparedness Plan Act, which I introduced earlier
this year with my colleague Don Beyer.
Before we begin, I want to thank the women and men on the
front lines of the aviation industry who continue to keep people and
the economy moving forward during these very difficult times.
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3
Today’s witnesses represent stakeholders for air carriers, air-
ports, and frontline workers who can speak to the current situation
and what changes need to be made to reduce these incidents.
I am pleased to welcome Sara Nelson, international president of
the Association of Flight Attendants–CWA. Ms. Nelson will provide
the subcommittee with personal experiences, both as a frontline
flight attendant and as president of a union representing 17 air-
lines across the aviation sector.
Mr. Teddy Andrews is a long-time flight attendant with Amer-
ican Airlines and will be speaking today on behalf of the Associa-
tion of Professional Flight Attendants. Mr. Andrews can provide us
firsthand experience as a frontline flight attendant during the
COVID–19 pandemic, highlighting the horrifying abuse he has
been subjected to while, as he will say, simply doing his job.
Ms. Lauren Beyer is vice president for security and facilitation
for Airlines for America and has worked on a variety of issues re-
lated to aircraft safety during the pandemic. I look forward to hear-
ing from her about the airline industry’s efforts to address pas-
senger behavior and what other support airlines need in order to
do so.
The subcommittee will also hear from Mr. Christopher Bidwell,
senior vice president of security at Airports Council International–
North America. It is important to hear the steps that airports are
taking to prevent potential unruly passengers from boarding air-
craft as well as additional measures Congress and agencies can un-
dertake.
In my district, and of course across the country, transportation
means jobs and is key to economic recovery. And without a safe,
reliable, commercial air travel industry, I would not be able to get
to and from work. Many of us would not be able to get to and from
work here in Congress and back home again. My constituents
would not be able to travel to see family and friends, and frontline
aviation workers would be without a job.
Congress, the Federal Government, and the aviation industry
must work together to reduce unruly passenger incidents and as-
sure passengers and crews that the airlines are safe to fly. So I
look forward to today’s discussion on how to best support their crit-
ical work moving forward.
Before I turn to the ranking member, Mr. Graves from Lou-
isiana, I will just remind Members that if you are speaking, under
the rules, you may take your mask off. If you are not speaking,
please wear a mask.
With that, I will turn to——
Mr. DEFAZIO. Mr. Chairman, I would like to see the rule en-
forced. I hope it won’t provoke violence, but Members on the other
side need to wear their masks.
Mr. LARSEN. All Members are to wear their masks if not speak-
ing. If you are speaking, you may take your mask off. That is, if
you are recognized to speak—not if you are speaking out of turn—
you may take your mask off.
Mr. Graves.
[Mr. Larsen’s prepared statement follows:]
f
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4
Prepared Statement of Hon. Rick Larsen, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Washington, and Chair, Subcommittee on Aviation
Good morning and welcome to today’s witnesses joining the Aviation Subcommit-
tee’s hearing titled ‘‘Disruption in the Skies: The Surge in Air Rage and its Effects
on Workers, Airlines, and Airports.’’
As the nation works to get to the other side of the COVID–19 pandemic, the surge
in public air rage incidents has exacerbated the already tenuous workforce situation
in our aviation sector and eroded confidence in air travel.
These incidents have also put the safety of frontline workers, passengers and the
nation’s aviation system at risk and could potentially lead to further safety issues.
Unruly passenger behavior is not a new phenomenon.
From 2015 to 2020, FAA initiated a total of 786 investigations into unruly pas-
senger behavior.
However, through the first nine months of 2021, FAA has initiated 789 investiga-
tions.
Airlines have filed 4,385 unruly passenger complaints since the beginning of the
calendar year, including 3,199 mask-related complaints.
As Sara Nelson will testify, frontline aviation workers have to deal with every-
thing from vulgar language, including racial epithets, to punching, kicking, biting,
shoving and spitting from passengers.
This behavior from a small percentage of the traveling public is disgusting, unac-
ceptable and a danger to fellow passengers, crew and the entire U.S. aviation sys-
tem.
Congress, the federal government and the aviation industry must work together
to protect airline crews, airport staff and the traveling public from passenger out-
bursts while also preparing for the next public health and national security crises.
As Subcommittee Chair, I have made aviation safety and enhancing the air travel
experience for passengers and crews a priority.
Three years ago, I worked with then-Subcommittee Chair Frank LoBiondo to pass
the FAA Reauthorization Act of 2018, which increased the maximum civil penalty
per unruly passenger violation by 48 percent to $37,000.
When incidents began to rise after the January 6 attack on the Capitol, Chair
Peter DeFazio and I encouraged FAA Administrator Dickson to use the full weight
of federal law to protect airline passengers and crews ahead of the Inauguration.
Earlier this year, FAA announced a series of measures to combat passenger
issues, including a zero-tolerance policy and a public awareness campaign that
showed noticeable results.
But Congress and government agencies can only do so much.
I was encouraged to see this week that FAA urged airlines to take additional
steps to address this issue, though there is confusion about what FAA is asking of
airlines and others in the aviation sector.
I look forward to hearing from today’s witnesses about the enforcement of U.S.
laws prohibiting such behavior and what more Congress and agencies can do to sup-
port frontline workers.
The public health response must lead the economic recovery.
Lessons learned from the ongoing pandemic show the urgent need for a national
aviation preparedness plan to improve the safety of aviation crews, employees and
passengers minimize disruptions to the national aviation system and restore con-
fidence in air travel.
I reintroduced my bill, the National Aviation Preparedness Plan Act, earlier this
year with my colleague Rep. Don Beyer (VA–08).
With a clear and consistent plan in place, I am confident the U.S. aviation system
will be better prepared for future crises.
Before we begin, I want to thank the women and men on the frontlines of the
aviation industry who continue to keep people and the economy moving during these
difficult times.
Today’s witnesses represent stakeholders for air carriers, airports and frontline
workers who can speak to the current situation and what changes need to be made
to reduce these incidents.
I am pleased to welcome Sara Nelson, International President of the Association
of Flight Attendants–Communications Workers of America (CWA).
Ms. Nelson will provide the subcommittee with personal experience both as a
frontline flight attendant and as president of a union representing 17 airlines across
the aviation sector.
Mr. Teddy Andrews is a long-time flight attendant with American Airlines and
will be speaking today on behalf of the Association of Professional Flight Attend-
ants.
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5
Mr. Andrews can provide his first-hand experience as a frontline flight attendant
during the COVID–19 pandemic, highlighting the horrifying abuse he has been sub-
jected to while, as he will say, simply doing his job.
Ms. Lauren Beyer is Vice President for Security and Facilitation for Airlines for
America and has worked on a variety of issues related to aircraft safety during the
pandemic.
I look forward to hearing from her about the airline industry’s efforts to address
passenger behavior and what other supports airlines need to do so.
The Subcommittee will also hear from Mr. Christopher Bidwell, Senior Vice Presi-
dent of Security at Airports Council International–North America.
It is important to hear steps airports are taking to prevent potential unruly pas-
sengers from boarding aircraft as well as additional measures Congress and federal
agencies can undertake.
In my district and across the country, transportation means jobs and is key to eco-
nomic recovery.
Without safe, reliable commercial air travel, I would not be able to get to and
from work, my constituents would not be able to travel to see family and friends
and frontline aviation workers would be without a job.
Congress, the federal government and the aviation industry must work together
to reduce unruly passenger incidents and ensure passengers and crews are safe to
fly.
I look forward to today’s discussion on how to best support your critical work mov-
ing forward.
Mr. GRAVES OF LOUISIANA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to
thank you for having this hearing today.
And I want to make very clear from the beginning that the be-
havior we have seen in the media in regard to some of the adverse
interactions on airplanes is completely unacceptable. It needs to be
a civil experience for everyone on the plane, and obviously there
are additional safety considerations for being tens of thousands of
feet up in the air in a metal airplane when thinking about this.
Flight attendants, gate agents, and other airline employees have
the right to go to work without the fear of being harassed, intimi-
dated, abused, or assaulted. Period.
FAA is correct for strenuously enforcing the rules and regula-
tions that are applicable to air travel and for holding people ac-
countable for failing to comply, and that unruly and illegal behav-
ior shall not be tolerated. Period.
Data shows that there are more cases of unruly behavior and
that we are seeing a spike or increase. And I think it is important
to look at the causes, to look at how we can mitigate that, and how
we can solve the problems.
There have been, I believe the chairman noted, 4,284 complaints
of unruly passengers as of September 14, but let’s remember that,
so far this year, more than 350 million passengers have flown. So
if you do the math there, that is 0.001 percent, and that is like
comparing the population of New Roads, Louisiana—a town that I
represent, that you all haven’t heard of but you should go visit,
False River, it is a lot of fun—to the population of the entire coun-
try.
And so the vast majority of flights occur without these types of
air rage incidents. I am worried that this hearing may convey to
people on the outside that getting on an airplane is a wild and un-
ruly experience, and I think that it is really important for us to
convey to folks that that is absolutely not the norm. That is the ex-
ception.
And I will say it again, 0.001 percent of passengers end up hav-
ing an unruly incident.
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6
But I also think that we have got to look at this not just from
the perspective of the airlines and the airline employees and oth-
ers, we have got to look at this thing holistically.
Mr. Chairman, I want to read some statistics. According to the
Kaiser Family Foundation, in January 2021, 4 in 10 adults re-
ported symptoms of anxiety or depressive disorder, up from 1 in 10
adults. So 4 in 10 now, it was up from 1 in 10 in June of 2019.
Overall, 2020 values show a 50-percent increase in overdose-re-
lated cardiac arrest—50-percent increase in cardiac arrest related
to overdose.
Mental distress, the number of March 2020 calls to the Disaster
Distress Helpline at the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Serv-
ices Administration, SAMHSA, was 891 percent higher than March
the year before.
And perhaps a little bit closer to home for some of us here, the
Capitol Police have reported 4,135 threats against lawmakers dur-
ing the first 3 months of 2021 alone, putting the number of threats
on track to double those from last year.
Mr. Chairman, my point here is that we are seeing increased
anxiety in society, whether it is mental health and depression, it
is domestic violence, it is substance abuse, mental distress, or other
types of challenges across Government.
Now, let’s look specifically at the air travel experience from the
passenger perspective; maybe it is a person or a family that doesn’t
travel often, doesn’t travel as often as some people here perhaps.
They have to think about packing their bags, getting their kids all
together, getting everything in the car, getting to the airport on
time, finding a parking spot, getting on the shuttle, getting in line
at the airport to check bags in, getting in line at TSA, which who
knows how that experience is going to go.
I recently had a TSA agent make me walk through the metal de-
tector four times because I was told that I wasn’t walking through
it right. I don’t even know what that looks like. I have walked
through metal detectors thousands and thousands of times. I do it
every day here, and I was told I walked through it wrong.
I had another TSA guy tell me that I didn’t let the dog sniff me
properly. I don’t even know what this stuff means.
Now let’s keep going. So then you get into the airport, you get
to buy your $6 bottle of water, your $12 granola bar. You get to
sit on a plane, and, yes, it is packed. And just like my flight experi-
ence coming here, I got up at 4 a.m. this week, I left the house at
5 a.m., and, let’s see, by the time I walked into the airport and fi-
nally got to DC because of problems, I think it was 8 or 9 hours
later, wearing a mask the entire time.
Mr. Chairman, I think it is important for us to contrast that with
the experiences people maybe had at the airport where they sat
down at a table with other people and were sitting there eating
without masks on.
We have seen all the data showing how clean the air on flights
are, and the low transmission rates are virtually nonexistent trans-
mission rates that are on airplanes.
So, Mr. Chairman, here is my point. I am glad we are having
this hearing, but I think it is really important that we look at this
from the passenger perspective as well. I met with Tampa Airport
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7
yesterday. The guy used the term ‘‘trying to decompress the experi-
ence.’’ How do we look at this holistically and decompress that en-
tire experience—from parking, to TSA, to bags, and everything
else, to make this a lower stress experience.
So, Mr. Chairman, I look forward to hearing from the witnesses
today, and I am hopeful that we can move in a direction that truly
is productive. I am excited and optimistic that some of the data
FAA released today showed a significant decline in air rage inci-
dents, and I hope that we can build upon that success.
I yield back.
[Mr. Graves of Louisiana’s prepared statement follows:]
f
Prepared Statement of Hon. Garret Graves, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Louisiana, and Ranking Member, Subcommittee on
Aviation
Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I want to thank you for having this hearing today. I
want to make very clear from the beginning that the behavior we’ve seen in the
media in regard to some of the adverse interactions on airplanes is completely unac-
ceptable. It needs to be a civil experience for everyone on the plane, and obviously
there are additional safety considerations for being tens of thousands of feet up in
the air in a metal airplane when thinking about this.
Flight attendants, gate agents, and other airline employees have the right to go
to work without the fear of being harassed, intimidated, abused, or assaulted—pe-
riod. The FAA is correct for aggressively enforcing the rules and regulations that
are applicable to air travel and for holding people accountable for failing to comply,
and that unruly and illegal behavior shall not be tolerated—period.
Data shows that there are more cases of unruly behavior and that we are seeing
a spike or increase, and I think it is important to look at the causes, look at how
we can mitigate that, and how we can solve the problems.
There have been 4,284 complaints of unruly passengers as of September 14, but
let’s remember that so far this year, more than 350 million passengers have flown.
So, if you do the math, that’s 0.001 percent. That’s like comparing the population
of New Roads, Louisiana—a town that I represent that you all should go visit—to
the population of the entire United States. So, the vast majority of flights occur
without these types of ‘‘air rage’’ incidents.
I’m worried that this hearing may convey to people on the outside that getting
on an airplane is a wild and unruly experience, and I think that it is really impor-
tant for us to convey to folks that that’s absolutely not the norm. That’s the excep-
tion, and I will say it again, 0.001 percent of passengers have an unruly incident.
But I also think we have to look at this not just from the perspective of the air-
lines and airline employees and others. We have to look at this holistically.
I want to provide some statistics. According to the Kaiser Family Foundation in
January 2021, four in 10 adults reported symptoms of anxiety or depressive dis-
order, up from one in 10 adults in June of 2019.
Overall, 2020 values show a 50 percent increase in overdose-related cardiac ar-
rest. The number of March 2020 calls to the Disaster Distress Line at the Substance
Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration was 891 percent higher than
March the year before. And perhaps a little bit closer to home to some of us here,
the U.S. Capitol Police have reported 4,135 threats against lawmakers during the
first three months of 2021 alone, putting the number of threats on track to double
those of last year.
My point here is that we are seeing increased anxiety in society—whether it’s
mental health and depression, domestic violence and substance abuse, or mental
distress or other types of challenges across government.
Now let’s look specifically at the air travel experience from the passenger perspec-
tive, and maybe it’s a person or a family that doesn’t travel often. They have to
think about packing their bags, getting their bags together, getting everything in
the car, getting to the airport on time, finding a parking spot, getting on the shuttle,
getting in line at the airport to check bags, getting in line at TSA—and who knows
how that experience is going to go. I recently had a TSA agent make me walk
through a metal detector four times because I was told I wasn’t walking through
it right. I don’t even know what that means.
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8
Now let’s continue. You then get into the airport and you get to buy your $6 bottle
of water, $12 granola bar, and then sit on a plane. And yes, it’s packed. And just
like my flight experience coming here, I got up at 4:00 a.m. earlier this week, left
the house at 5:00 a.m., and by the time I walked into the airport and finally got
to D.C. after various problems, it was eight or nine hours later—and wearing a
mask the entire time.
Mr. Chair, I am glad we are having this hearing, and I think it is really important
that we look at this from the passenger perspective as well. I met with Tampa Air-
port yesterday, and one of the people I met with used the phrase ‘‘trying to decom-
press the experience.’’
How do we look at this holistically and try to decompress the entire flying experi-
ence—from parking, to TSA, to bags, and everything else—to make it a lower-stress
experience.
I look forward to hearing from the witnesses today and I am hopeful that we can
move in a direction that truly is productive. I am excited and optimistic that some
of the data the FAA released today showed a significant decline in air rage inci-
dents, and I hope we can build upon that success.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you.
And I now call on the chair of the full committee, Mr. DeFazio,
for an opening statement.
Mr. DEFAZIO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Thanks for holding
this.
Yeah, incidents are down 50 percent. They are still twice the
level of last year. And minimizing, oh, like a flight attendant who
gets her teeth knocked out or some jerk who tries to open the exit
door, or crash into the cockpit. Of course, the FAA is dragging its
feet on secondary barriers, which we mandated a number of years
ago, but that is an issue for another day.
But it is still too high. I think the zero tolerance and the pub-
licized fines have an impact, but we need more prosecutions when
there are serious violent incidents on airplanes.
And there needs to be more cooperation between the airlines, the
airports, the local police, and the Federal authorities, and I hope
that we can engender that.
I have flown about 8 million miles. Been doing this a long time.
Until recently, I never saw a big sign in the airport advertising al-
cohol to go, in cups. That has got to stop. It is illegal to bring your
own alcohol onto a plane. But how are you going to tell? You know?
Is it a coffee? Is it a soda? What is it?
But the airports need to crack down on these vendors, or we need
to find a way to induce the airports to crack down on these ven-
dors. That is literally encouraging people to break the law. Get a
great big to-go cup with four shots in it and take it on the airplane.
So that needs to end.
We are going to hear a lot of suggestions here today about how
we can better deal with this, and we will look at what further ac-
tions this committee can take.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
[Mr. DeFazio’s prepared statement follows:]
f
Prepared Statement of Hon. Peter A. DeFazio, a Representative in Con-
gress from the State of Oregon, and Chair, Committee on Transportation
and Infrastructure
Thank you, Chair Larsen, for calling today’s hearing on the spike in air rage
cases. Even as we continue to fight a pandemic, the amount of disruption and vio-
lent behavior on planes has reached epidemic proportions. Today, flight attendants,
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a representative of airports, and the head of security from Airlines for America will
allow us to examine how air rage cases unfold on planes, how airports and law en-
forcement respond, and what airlines are doing in the aggregate to respond to these
incidents.
In one incident in May, a flight attendant lost two teeth in an altercation after
a passenger repeatedly ignored instructions and then became physically
confrontational. In another, a belligerent passenger tried to break down the cockpit
door, was handcuffed, broke free, and then struck the flight attendant trying to sub-
due him a second time. Today we will hear from a flight attendant who has encoun-
tered disruptive and unruly passengers on numerous occasions and can speak to the
anxiety and fear many flight attendants feel going to work each day.
Recognizing the growing trend of belligerence, in January the FAA issued an
order directing staff to pursue a ‘‘zero-tolerance’’ policy for cases relating to inter-
ference with crewmembers and other unruly conduct on board aircraft. It’s clear this
policy, which I commended the Administrator for adopting in a letter in August, has
worked. The FAA reported just this morning that the number of unruly passenger
incidents last week had dropped to 50 percent of the number in early 2021. But the
rate of these incidents is still too high: it’s twice the rate of cases reported in late
2020. And the FAA inspectors who handle these cases are also responsible for con-
ducting oversight and surveillance of the aviation system’s safety. They can’t con-
tinue without some relief.
Beyond this morning’s announcement, let’s look at the total numbers. The FAA
reported that as of September 21, 2021, there have been 4,385 unruly passenger re-
ports since the beginning of the 2021 calendar year. Two weeks ago, that number
was 4,184, so that’s just over 200 new reports in the last two weeks alone.
Moreover, there needs to be cooperation at the federal and state levels, as well
as continued coordination within the aviation industry to stop the surge of air rage
cases. First and foremost, the FAA must continue to coordinate with other federal
agencies.
While the FAA’s civil penalties have gone a long way to dissuade and deter dan-
gerous and disastrous behavior—FAA fines issued for unruly flyers just topped $1
million last month—other penalties must be enforced for the most violent offenders.
In many cases these penalties must be brought in criminal court, under the jurisdic-
tion of the DOJ. Yet in an article published earlier this month, DOJ said it had only
filed charges in federal district courts for 16 defendants, matching the total number
of unruly passengers federally charged the previous year. Given the discrepancy in
cases between last year and this year, that is not satisfactory or commensurate with
the serious number of cases.
Cooperation must also continue with airports and local law enforcement. When a
flight arrives with an unruly passenger in need of intervention, the airport must
work with airport and local law enforcement to meet the plane at the gate. Airlines
and the FAA must also work together to create best practices so that crews know
how to interact with local law enforcement, and that local law enforcement in turn
communicates that information to the FBI, ensuring that all the relevant informa-
tion is gathered and needed reports filed.
Finally, airports and their restaurants and other concessionaires must work to
curb passenger intoxication and the occurrence of passengers carrying on and con-
suming alcohol on flights. There is no reason that a passenger should be able to
leave a restaurant with a ‘‘to-go’’ cup of alcohol and board a plane with it.
I applaud Administrator Dickson’s letter to airports across the country requesting
that airports work with their concessionaires to amplify the FAA’s prohibition on
consuming alcoholic beverages not served by crewmembers on board flights. While
alcohol may not always be the primary instigator in some of these confrontations,
adding gratuitous alcohol to a violent situation certainly exacerbates the problem
and subsequent danger to flight crew and the traveling public.
Some have argued about the cause of air rage cases and try to pin it on the fed-
eral mask mandate, which has saved innumerable lives. There’s no question that
alcohol and possibly other substances play a significant role in driving otherwise-
reasonable people to commit outrageous acts upon their fellow passengers and crew-
members. One thing that needs to happen, and to happen today, is that airports
must compel their concessionaires to sell alcohol responsibly. Posting a big sign in
the terminal advertising ‘‘alcohol to-go’’ is not selling alcohol responsibly.
While I am relieved that people have begun to return to the skies, we must re-
main vigilant in ensuring their safe travel. That includes doing what we can to
clamp down on this alarming increase in belligerent behavior. The primary solution
is simple—passengers need to comply with federal and airline face mask require-
ments and practice kindness and respect toward air crews and fellow passengers.
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In the meantime, I look forward to working with my colleagues to see what we can
do to support those on the front line.
Thank you to all of our witnesses for being here today. I look forward to your tes-
timony.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you.
And now I welcome the witnesses on today’s panel. In order, we
will have Ms. Sara Nelson, international president of the Associa-
tion of Flight Attendants; Mr. Teddy Andrews, flight attendant—
I am sorry—at American Airlines, I will make a correction on my
opening statement on that—on behalf of the Association of Profes-
sional Flight Attendants; Mr. Christopher Bidwell, senior vice
president of security, Airports Council International–North Amer-
ica; and Ms. Lauren Beyer, vice president of security and facilita-
tion, Airlines for America.
Thank you for joining us today. I look forward to your testimony.
And, without objection, our witnesses’ full statements will be in-
cluded in the record. And since your written testimony has been
made part of the record, the subcommittee requests that you limit
your oral testimony to 5 minutes.
Ms. Nelson, you may proceed.
TESTIMONY OF SARA NELSON, INTERNATIONAL PRESIDENT,
ASSOCIATION OF FLIGHT ATTENDANTS—CWA, AFL–CIO;
TEDDY ANDREWS, FLIGHT ATTENDANT, AMERICAN AIR-
LINES, ON BEHALF OF THE ASSOCIATION OF PROFESSIONAL
FLIGHT ATTENDANTS; CHRISTOPHER R. BIDWELL, SENIOR
VICE PRESIDENT OF SECURITY, AIRPORTS COUNCIL INTER-
NATIONAL–NORTH AMERICA; AND LAUREN BEYER, VICE
PRESIDENT OF SECURITY AND FACILITATION, AIRLINES
FOR AMERICA
Ms. NELSON. Thank you, Chairman Larsen, Chairman DeFazio,
Ranking Member Graves, and Ranking Member Graves, for this
hearing on the surge in air rage incidents and the effect it has on
workers, airports, and airlines.
I am a 25-year union flight attendant and president of the Asso-
ciation of Flight Attendants—CWA, AFL–CIO. We also coordinate
closely with the leaders of APFA and TWU, together representing
nearly 100,000 flight attendants. As part of the Communication
Workers of America, we represent ground service workers and can
also speak to the impact on workers at the gates. And, of course,
we work closely with all of the aviation unions who make up the
Transportation Trades Department of the AFL–CIO. This is a sub-
ject that is of great importance to all aviation workers.
Since January, the FAA has logged 4,284 unruly passenger re-
ports. About three-quarters of those are mask-related. Of these
numbers, 755 investigations have been initiated and 154 cases
have concluded with enforcement of over $1 million in fines.
If we continue at this rate, there may be more incidents in 2021
than in the entire history of aviation, but for the first time we are
hearing from the FAA that some of our efforts together has these
numbers trending down.
There is so much more to do, though, because these incidents are
still too common, if even only from a small percentage of pas-
sengers of those who are flying.
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We cannot forget the devastating consequences of leaving com-
mercial aircraft vulnerable to terrorist attack. We know there are
two fundamentals in aviation safety and security. Number one, re-
move all distractions from safety-sensitive work, and, number two,
leave all threats to safety and security on the ground.
If we allow disruptions in the cabin or distractions due to defi-
ance of passengers to comply with crew instructions to become a
regular occurrence, we are in jeopardy of missing cues of a coordi-
nated attack.
Flight attendants are the eyes throughout the aircraft for threats
to safety of flight: depressurization, fires, medical emergencies, in-
cluding potential medical emergencies in the flight deck. We cannot
afford to lose any time when responding to emergencies or pre-
paring for an emergency landing.
Disturbances in the cabin are also a distraction in the flight deck
and could compromise the safety of flight. In response to a survey
of flight attendants across the industry, 85 percent of respondents
had dealt with unruly passengers in the first half of this year, and
58 percent of those had experienced at least five occurrences.
This used to just be a one-off bad day at work in an entire ca-
reer, so this is very commonplace.
Disturbingly, one in five respondents experienced physical alter-
cations, 61 percent of respondents reported that disruptive pas-
sengers use racist, sexist, or homophobic slurs during the events.
Only 60 percent of those who relayed incidents of physical attack
said that law enforcement was requested to meet the flight.
Of all the incidents in the air, 50 percent showed that signs of
trouble were starting on the ground. This signals both that workers
at the gate are experiencing abuse, and half of these incidents
could be kept on the ground with better response and coordination.
While 85 percent of the incidents are mask-related, flight attend-
ants report there are many contributing factors, the next highest
being alcohol.
FAA Administrator Steve Dickson sent a letter to all airports
calling for better communication on masks, the Federal regulations
on alcohol, the discontinuation of to-go alcohol—and I think we
have some pictures of this that can be shown—and coordination
with law enforcement to make sure consequences are clear for bad
actors.
Stopping to-go alcohol should be low-hanging fruit here, but as
I included in my written testimony and as you see on the screen
with examples from JFK, Phoenix, and St. Louis, they are not the
only airports to do this.
Not only has this practice not stopped, it is encouraged and pro-
moted, giving passengers the false idea that they can bring their
own alcohol onboard and encouraging as much drinking as possible.
Flight attendants and gate agents then experience extensive
verbal abuse, yelling, and swearing in response to instructions;
shoving, taking seats, biting, punching, throwing trash at workers,
defiling restrooms after instructions are given, following flightcrew
and agents throughout the airport, and continuing to yell and har-
ass.
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The danger in this hostile environment in response to flight at-
tendants simply conducting routine safety reminders and compli-
ance is hesitancy in performing these tasks.
Aviation safety is at risk when crew are deterred from or delayed
in performing our safety duties.
Now what do we need? We need DOJ criminal charges and en-
forcement; make the FAA zero-tolerance policy permanent; and
staff up investigators and extend investigation time; coordinated
communication, including PSAs running throughout the terminal
on masks, alcohol, and generally following the rules from point of
ticket sale all through check-in, security, gate, and the boarding
process; require that all airport bars, restaurants, and shops post
signage and use verbal warnings to patrons who fail to comply with
masking requirements.
Every airline and airport should have a communication plan that
they submit to ensure we are all working together across Govern-
ment stakeholders and law enforcement. Enforcement of masks in
the terminals and stopping the ability for passengers to become
inebriated, more staffing at the gates and on the planes.
We simply cannot accept this as the new normal. We look for-
ward to working with this subcommittee to effect positive change.
I want to note that aviation is about bringing people together,
not tearing us apart. Every person matters, and we can only have
the freedom of flight when we recognize the reality that we are all
in this together.
Thank you very much. I look forward to your questions.
[Ms. Nelson’s prepared statement follows:]
f
Prepared Statement of Sara Nelson, International President, Association of
Flight Attendants—CWA, AFL–CIO
INTRODUCTION
Thank you Chairman DeFazio, Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves and
Ranking Member Graves for convening this hearing on the alarming increase in dis-
ruptive and unruly airline travelers, and the effects this has on workers, airports,
and airlines.
My name is Sara Nelson. I am a twenty-five year union flight attendant and
president of the Association of Flight Attendants—CWA, AFL–CIO (AFA), rep-
resenting flight attendants at 17 airlines across the industry. We also coordinate
closely with leaders of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants and the
Transport Workers Union, together representing nearly 100,000 Flight Attendants
across the industry. Flight attendants are the frontline of aviation along with the
passenger service agents and ground service workers represented by the Commu-
nications Workers of America and all of the affiliates of the Transportation Trades
Department, AFL–CIO. The subject of this hearing is of critical importance to all
aviation workers.
I know there is not one person on this aviation subcommittee that thinks the com-
bative, abusive, defiant, and violent behavior on our planes and in our airports is
acceptable. Many of you have reached out to ask how you can help. We believe it’s
critical to fully define the problem, review effectiveness of actions taken to date, pro-
vide recommendations for additional actions needed, and act with coordinated ur-
gency across aviation to subdue this threat to aviation safety and security.
AIR RAGE AND DISRUPTIVE PASSENGERS THREATEN LIVES AND SAFETY OF FLIGHT
Since January the Federal Aviation Administration has logged 1:
1 https://www.faa.gov/datalresearch/passengerslcargo/unrulylpassengers/
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• 4,284 unruly passengers reports
• 3,123 mask related incidents
• 755 investigations initiated
• 154 enforcement cases
These numbers are staggering and if they continue at this rate may result in
more incidents in 2021 than the entire history of commercial aviation. The enormity
of the problem is reflected in these statistics, and demonstrates why the FAA, under
the leadership of Steve Dickson, has engaged with urgency to tackle the problem.
But the numbers don’t tell the full story about the impact on frontline workers or
just how dangerous this behavior is for aviation safety.
Flight attendants are aviation’s first responders, charged with the safety and
health of passengers and crew. Twenty years since the events of September 11,
2001, we cannot forget the devastating consequences of leaving commercial aircraft
vulnerable to terrorist attack. For the past twenty years flight attendants have also
served as the last line of defense in aviation security. We know there are two fun-
damentals in aviation safety and security: 1) remove all distractions from safety
sensitive work, and 2) leave all threats to safety and security on the ground.
The disruptions in the cabin and failure to comply with crew instruction are a
threat to the safety of flight. The threat of terrorist attack has not abated, but our
vigilance and coordinated actions across government and aviation stakeholders has
to date thwarted any planned attacks. If we allow disruptions in the cabin or dis-
tractions due to defiance of passengers to comply with crew instructions to become
a regular occurrence, we are in jeopardy of missing cues of a coordinated attack. We
simply cannot allow this behavior to become commonplace for this reason alone.
Every level of threat requires vigilance and scrutiny. We cannot be lulled into a
place of accepting these distractions as a new normal.
Flight attendants are the eyes throughout the aircraft for threats to safety of
flight: slow decompression, fires of all kinds, medical emergencies affecting crew. We
attend to the health and safety of passengers facing an array of medical emer-
gencies from pregnant mothers suddenly in labor, to heart attack, stroke, choking,
allergic reaction, or drug overdose. When emergency landing or ditching prep is nec-
essary there is no time to lose to prepare the cabin and save lives. The safety of
every passenger and crewmember onboard is in jeopardy when our duties are inter-
rupted or needless distractions arise.
These events are also a distraction in the flight deck. We need to work to reduce
and eliminate all distractions and disruptions in order to ensure the safety of flight.
Survey Results Say 85% of Flight Attendants Have Experienced an Unruly Passenger
Event in 2021
On July 29, 2021 our union released 2 the results of a survey of nearly 5,000 flight
attendants across 30 airlines between June 25, 2021 and July 14, 2021. Key find-
ings included:
• 85 percent of all respondents had dealt with unruly passengers in the first half
of 2021.
• 58 percent had experienced at least five incidents during that time.
• 17 percent, or nearly 1 in 5 respondents, reported experiencing a physical inci-
dent.
• 71 percent of Flight Attendants who filed incident reports with airline manage-
ment received no follow-up
• 50 percent reported witnessing misconduct during boarding, and 13 percent re-
ported behavior beginning in the gate area.
• 58 percent of respondents reported alcohol contributed to disruptive events and
85 percent of incidents were related to mask compliance.
• 61 percent of respondents reported that disruptive passengers used racist, sexist
and/or homophobic slurs during incidents. Many specific examples were pro-
vided, most of which were too offensive to repeat.
• Only 60 percent of respondents experiencing a physical incident onboard said
law enforcement was requested to meet their flight.
The survey results demonstrate a greater impact on workers than the FAA re-
ported numbers provide. When asked what they believed to be the cause or esca-
lating reasons for the unruly behavior, Flight Attendants cited that mask compli-
ance, alcohol, routine safety reminders, flight delays and cancellations were all com-
mon factors in unruly passenger interactions. Many cited multiple factors contrib-
uted to incidents, which also implies a compounding effect and an opportunity to
reduce incidents when better addressing any of the contributing factors.
2 https://www.afacwa.org/unrulylpassengerslsurvey
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Flight attendants reported facing extensive verbal abuse, including from visibly
drunk passengers, passengers yelling and swearing in response to masking direc-
tions, and often aggressively challenging flight crew working to ensure compliance
with federal rules. Many respondents recounted aggressive incidents, including
shoving, kicking seats, throwing trash at flight crew, defiling the restroom in re-
sponse to crewmember instructions, and following flight crew through the airport
to continue yelling and harassment.
One Flight Attendant wrote, ‘‘We tell them [passengers] that it is a federal offense
to not comply with crew member instructions, use foul and/or threatening language
onboard, and then the plane is met by airline supervisors or airport law enforce-
ment and the passenger gets a slap on the wrist and sent on their way. I’ve been
yelled at, cursed at and threatened countless times in the last year and the most
that has come out of it has been a temporary suspension of travel for the passenger.
We need real consequences if flight attendants are ever going to feel safe at work
again.’’
Another Flight Attendant wrote, ‘‘I was on the floor in the back of the plane and
the [rest of] crew members didn’t know what happened until after my attacker had
already deplaned.’’
Racist, sexist, and homophobic abuse of flight crews creates a hostile environment
for everyone onboard and violates federal law. It has no place anywhere, and cer-
tainly not in a workplace environment. Our union has fought discrimination and
prejudice for decades, and we are not about to allow this moment to set us back.
The danger in this hostile environment in response to flight attendants simply
conducting routine safety reminders and compliance is hesitancy in performing
these tasks. It is a federal aviation safety requirement that aircraft are staffed with
a minimum number of flight attendants. Aviation safety is at risk when crew are
deterred from or delayed in performing safety duties.
Significant Opportunities for Reducing Events
According to the survey results, nearly half of the incidents could be prevented
by identifying problems on the ground or preflight—which is an opportunity for dra-
matically reducing the threat in the air. The survey also indicates room for signifi-
cant improvement in the area of response to incidents and enforcement.
Addressing Violence and Disrespect Toward Ground Service Workers Will Reduce
Inflight Events as Well
Ground service agents are experiencing an increased amount of passenger rage
and their experiences are going unrecognized. These incidents vary from using crass
and vulgar language when addressing employees, using racial epithets that cause
psychological harm to our agents, to punching, biting, kicking, shoving and even
spitting on them. These incidents are caused by overlapping operational challenges
like staffing shortages, flight delays and cancellations and enforcing federal mask
mandates at the gates. CWA represents 20,000 agents working for American Air-
lines and at wholly-owned regional subsidiaries Piedmont Airlines and Envoy Air
who have serious concerns about their safety in the workplace and are looking to
this administration for action that shows the safety of ground service workers is a
priority.2
Our ground service members have seen that incidents of assault against pas-
senger service agents are rarely investigated or prosecuted. This is despite a 2017
ruling from the Department of Justice which confirmed that any interference with
airport or air carrier employees with security duties is punishable by criminal pen-
alties and jail time—a provision that applies to passenger service workers per-
forming a range of vital security functions and are therefore covered under this deci-
sion.
Over the past few months, CWA ground service members across the country have
experienced serious incidents of physical and verbal assault and harassment, with
few repercussions for the offending passenger imposed by law enforcement.
• On June 28, 2021 at the Charlotte Douglas Airport, a passenger attempted to
board a flight in a state of extreme intoxication. CWA gate agents, fulfilling
their duties to secure the aircraft and protect the other passengers, denied the
passenger access to his flight. He became extremely violent—physically assault-
ing one of our members and verbally attacking another two. There is no doubt
about what happened. Video of the assault, taken by a member of the public,
was obtained by local news and is publicly available.3 Despite conclusive evi-
dence, local law enforcement did not pursue assault charges against the pas-
senger in Charlotte and the FAA and federal law enforcement have likewise re-
fused to pursue this matter seriously because of overlapping jurisdiction at the
airport.
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• On July 30th at John F. Kennedy Airport, two CWA members were assaulted
after intervening in a dispute between two passengers. The agent involved was
repeatedly punched in the face and verbally threatened for refusing to allow the
passenger on the airplane. No charges have been pursued at this time.
• On June 30, 2021, a passenger attempting to board a flight from JFK to MIA
was stopped at the gate after an altercation with another passenger. Despite
warnings that any disruption onboard the aircraft would not be tolerated, the
passenger became aggressive with agents—pushing, shoving and punching the
agent in the face several times. The agent was transported to a hospital after
experiencing headaches and pain in the jaw, left arm, knee and lower back.
By failing to follow the law and seek justice for the victims of assaults like these,
a message is being clearly communicated that the safety of airport workers is not
a priority. Ground service members are the last line of security before these agents
have the opportunity to board the aircraft and disrupt service. These incidents have
outraged CWA agents across the country and highlight the need for local and fed-
eral law enforcement to prioritize airport workers safety and security.
ACTION BY GOVERNMENT AND AIRLINES HAS MADE A DIFFERENCE—BUT MUCH MORE
TO DO
It is a violation of federal law to interfere or disrupt the duties of a crewmember.
Federal Aviation Regulations 91.11, 121.580 and 135.120 state that ‘‘no person may
assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a crewmember in the performance
of the crewmember’s duties aboard an aircraft being operated.’’ Violations of this
law carry up to $35,000 in fines for each incident, and up to twenty years in prison
if convicted. While the FAA has levied more than one million dollars in fines, the
Department of Justice has been slow to conduct criminal investigations or seek in-
dictments.
We have a shared responsibility to address threats to aviation safety. Everyone
involved in air travel, from federal officials to airlines, to airport concessions must
play a role in ending this scourge of abusive passengers. Together we can improve
communication to passengers that misconduct is dangerous, illegal, and will result
in passengers losing the privilege to fly.
We commend FAA Administrator Dickson for initiating a ‘zero-tolerance’ policy for
violation of this FAR and passenger misconduct, first on January 13, 2021, at the
first sight of this new threat and further extending the policy in March. In addition,
we appreciate the FAA’s public campaign to communicate consequences of viola-
tions, and the efforts to bring the entire aviation ecosystem together to address
these problems. Dickson’s letter to airports 3 is a good example of these efforts, and
we appreciate the consistent dialog and problem-solving with FAA, DOT, and TSA.
Consistent communication from leaders makes a huge difference and it has been ex-
tremely helpful to have federal officials, including the President of the United
States, clearly communicating the rules and the consequences for breaking them.
Plain instructions from leaders such as President Biden’s call to ‘‘show some re-
spect’’ helps set a clear tone of order civil discourse in our shared space.
Still, there’s more to be done to improve communications. We need everyone from
the door of the airport to the flight deck, control towers, concessionaires, airport
workers, security, law enforcement, and travelers themselves to identify their part
in helping promote calm, kindness, and above all—safety. More airport signage, air-
port PSAs, and notifications from the airline—starting when passengers purchase
the tickets all the way up until boarding—should all be enhanced communication
measures to reinforce the ‘zero-tolerance’ policy, the fines/jail time consequences,
and the rules associated with alcohol consumption.
Airlines have individually taken action to ban bad actors from future flights. For
example, United Airlines has banned over 1000 travelers due to issues related to
mask mandates and unruly behavior. The airline has instructed flight attendants
to hand out cards to maskless passengers that inform them, ‘‘you’re just going to
be banned from flying United Airlines if you don’t put [a mask] on.’’ We believe this
has been an effective way to avoid putting United flight attendants in danger or into
the role of a law enforcement official and has helped deescalate a number of inci-
dents involving unruly passengers.
3 https://www.faa.gov/datalresearch/passengerslcargo/unrulylpassengers/toolkit/media/Let-
terltolairportslFINALlsigned.pdf
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PROBLEMS CONTRIBUTING TO UNRULY PASSENGER BEHAVIOR AND RECOMMENDATIONS
TO STOP IT
With passenger incidents on the rise, many Flight Attendants have expressed con-
cerns about coming to work. When we think of the incidents we’ve seen, we think
of large network airlines with sufficient crews to deal with a variety of issues but
regional airlines are reporting a couple of aggressive passenger incidents per week
and often there is a single flight attendant to face unhinged rages.
Overall, staffing minimums in the airports, at the gates, and on our planes make
it harder to identify problems early, seek help, and deescalate conflict.
Failure to Communicate to Passengers about Rules and Penalties
After 9/11, TSA developed the ‘‘See Something, Say Something’’ campaign. This
was clear, intentional messaging. Everyone understood. Each of us, every one of us,
had a role to play in security. Each of us, every one of us, needed to be part of the
solution.
We need similar clear, strong, and consistent messaging today about COVID pro-
tocols, masking, the importance of following crewmember instructions, and the pen-
alties if you don’t.
If the first time a passenger hears about the mask mandate when they are board-
ing their flight, we are asking for trouble, and we are putting our flight crew at
risk.
We need all of aviation to help enforce and reinforce the rules. This should include
electronic messaging during and after booking, signage on airport access roads and
transit, communications and acknowledgments embedded in the check-in process,
clear and consistent signage, video and audio throughout parking areas and termi-
nals, and with the active assistance of all personnel, including sky caps, airport
greeters, the ticket counter, TSA, airport vendors, and restaurant workers, gate
agents and flight crews.
Recommendations:
1. Develop and enforce stronger airport messaging that wearing a mask and fol-
lowing crewmember instructions are both required, and that failure to do so
will result in penalties. Also, empower/promote the message that all parties—
TSA, law enforcement, airport security, PSAs, pilots, and Flight Attendants—
need to join the team to abbreviate the pandemic and keep air travel safe.
2. FAA should require a COVID-protocols and zero-tolerance policy communica-
tions plan from every carrier and airport to ensure that all parties are brought
into the process and that appropriate resources are being deployed to support
compliance.
3. Make the FAA ‘zero-tolerance’ policy permanent.
4. The DOJ should utilize existing statutes to conduct criminal prosecution.
5. Implement a series of actions proposed by our union to keep problems on the
ground and respond effectively in the event of incidents.
Refusal to Comply with Mask Mandate
On September 14, 2021 the TSA extended the mask mandate (SD 1582/84–21–
01B), which was first issued on January 27, 2021 requiring masks to be worn on
all forms of public transportation. According to the FAA, as of January 1, 2021,
about 75% of disruptive passenger incidents are directly related to the mask man-
date 4.
In his September 9, 2021, speech on new measures to address COVID–19, Presi-
dent Biden called out the unprecedented verbal and physical assault of flight at-
tendants, and implored people to act in a civil manner. During this speech the
President also announced that fines for passenger disruption and noncompliance
would be doubled. Our union thanks President Biden for his push to stop unruly
passenger behavior and his message of respect for those of us on the frontlines doing
our jobs to keep everyone safe.
On August 3, 2021, FAA Administrator Steve Dickson sent a letter to Airport
leaders reinforcing the FAA zero tolerance policy on disruptive behavior. He stated
‘‘Every week, we see situations in which law enforcement was asked to meet an air-
craft at the gate following an unruly passenger incident. In some cases, flight at-
tendants have reported being physically assaulted. Nevertheless, many of these pas-
sengers were interviewed by local police and released without criminal charges of
any kind. When this occurs, we miss a key opportunity to hold unruly passengers
accountable for their unacceptable and dangerous behavior.’’
4 https://www.cnbc.com/2021/07/06/disputes-over-mask-mandates-comprise-75percent-of-faas-
unruly-passenger-complaints-on-planes-.html
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Mask use continues to be an effective way to help stop the spread of COVID–19,
and consistent enforcement and accountability are vital—especially as some trav-
elers refuse to act responsibly. Since the Transportation Security Administration an-
nounced in February that most passengers must wear masks on airplanes and in
airports, the agency has received more than 3,000 reports of mask-related inci-
dents 5. As of last week, Alaska Airlines alone had placed 857 passengers on a ban
list due to failure to comply with mask policy.
Recommendations:
1. Maintain the TSA enforcement directive for the CDC transportation mask
mandate to keep passengers and aviation workers safe.
2. Make permanent the FAA zero tolerance policy and increased fines for disrup-
tive, unruly, and violent passengers.
3. Minimize onboard food and beverage service until the CDC declares that the
pandemic is over in order to facilitate more consistent mask wearing.
4. Require that all airport bars, restaurants, and shops post signage and issue
verbal warnings to patrons who fail to comply with masking requirements.
Drunk Passengers and Alcohol Consumption Allowed outside of Concessions
To facilitate mask-wearing and enhance COVID safety protocols, a few carriers
have limited in-flight food and beverage service, and either curtailed or ceased alco-
hol sales at this time. Flight Attendants across the country have praised these
measures for assisting with compliance for the vast majority of passengers.
However, as our member survey made clear, alcohol continues to be a major driv-
er of passenger noncompliance with safety rules and is an aggravating factor in
many incidents with unruly, verbally and physically abusive travelers.
Many of the most disruptive and threatening passengers have attempted to by-
pass restrictions on in-flight service by drinking to excess prior to flight or by bring-
ing alcohol onboard for consumption, in violation of FAA rules, which state that ‘‘no
person may drink any alcoholic beverage aboard an aircraft unless the certificate
holder operating the aircraft has served that beverage to him.’’ The purpose of this
long-established safety rule is to empower airline personnel to guard against the
safety risks from intoxicated passengers, including the risk that drunk travelers will
fail to follow instructions.
In this fraught moment, we have emphasized the need for clear, strong, and con-
sistent messaging. Today, we must convey to the Committee our profound dismay
that some airport vendors are actively undermining efforts to enhance compliance
by encouraging passengers to violate alcohol consumption rules.
In airports across the country, from Phoenix to St. Louis to New York, travelers
are met with calls to order alcohol delivery to your gate and ‘‘cocktails to go.’’ One
ad at JFK, urges passengers to drive one cocktail at the bar and order up another
to bring to the gate.
5 https://www.faa.gov/datalresearch/passengerslcargo/unrulylpassengers/
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These messages, and the policies behind them, are totally inconsistent with fed-
eral safety regulations and send a message that getting drunk before flying is per-
missible. After months of verbal and physical abuse from intoxicated passengers and
unprecedented federal enforcement, it is time to end gateside alcohol delivery and
airport cocktails to go. We need the FAA and Congress to send a clear message to
airports, and to their concessions and vendors—you have a key role to play in sup-
porting aviation safety and combating air rage, not profit from it.
Recommendations:
1. Limit onboard alcohol sales.
2. Ban cocktails to-go and in-airport alcohol delivery.
3. Limit customers to purchasing one alcoholic beverage at a time.
4. The FAA must remind airports and vendors of their obligation not to serve ine-
briated passengers.
5. Airports must remind all airport employees of their shared responsibility to
keep intoxicated passengers from boarding planes by notifying gate agents and
crew members in advance.
Inconsistent and Insufficient Response to Aggressive Passenger Incidents
The response to aggressive passenger incidents upon landing is inconsistent and
generally insufficient at multiple levels. The communication chain from the cabin,
to flight deck, ground coordinators, and law enforcement must be unbroken if we
are to have the chance to respond effectively and enforce compliance. If an aircraft
returns to the gate after pushback due to a disruptive passenger incident, a report
to the FAA is automatically generated. But it is not clear how incidents that do not
involve a deviation from the flight plan get reported or investigated. Law enforce-
ment response is not consistent at some airports, law enforcement will board and
escort the offender off prior to everyone else deplaning. But often, either the of-
fender will deplane and walk away because the passenger service agents (PSA) are
not sure what occurred and there is no law enforcement presence. Investigations can
take weeks or months to investigate because of a tremendous case backlog and staff-
ing shortages, meanwhile an unruly passenger will continue to fly and abuse crew
members, gate agents, and other aviation staff. I am concerned that it sends the
P:\Hearings\117\AV\9-23-2021_49704\Nelson1.eps
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message to offenders and would-be offenders that enforcing the rules is not a pri-
ority.
An issue that needs particular attention now is how an aggressive passenger can
be banned from one airline but then promptly fly on another one, putting more
crews, passengers, and gate agents at risk and sending a message of lax (if any)
oversight. This is not acceptable. A central database that all the airlines can access
to share information about passengers who are banned from flying makes practical
sense.
Recommendations:
1. Clarify what triggers pilot reporting and law enforcement response, define and
require that pilot reporting and ground response protocols are implemented,
take action against passengers who break the rules including consistent appli-
cations of fines (and some immediate consequence, not just the remote threat
of a distant and unlikely consequence), criminally prosecute certain offenders
under the DOJ, and direct the fines into a legal/medical fund for affected crew-
members and PSAs.
2. Create a centralized list of passengers who may not fly for some period of time
and provide airlines with access to the list. Add to the contract of carriage that
airlines have the right to share passengers’ information with the DOT.
Insufficient Flight Attendant and Gate Agent Staffing
The demands of managing the current spike in aggressive passenger incidents is
straining Flight Attendant and Passenger Service Agents (PSA) staffing.
Recommendations:
1. Increase staffing to ensure a sufficient number of Flight Attendants and PSAs
to observe and respond to the issues.
CONCLUSION
This is not a ‘new normal’ we can accept. We know the government, airlines, air-
ports, and all stakeholders can take actions together to keep us safe and flying
friendly. We look forward to working with this subcommittee on our union’s pro-
posed actions and recommendations to affect positive change. Aviation is about
bringing people together, not tearing us apart. Every person matters, and we can
only have the freedom of flight when we recognize the reality that we are all in this
together.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you, Ms. Nelson.
I now turn to Mr. Teddy Andrews. You are recognized for 5 min-
utes.
Mr. ANDREWS. Good morning, Chairman DeFazio, Chairman Lar-
sen, Ranking Member Sam Graves, Ranking Member Garret
Graves, and members of the committee. Thank you for the oppor-
tunity to testify today.
My name is Teddy Andrews. I am an American Airlines flight at-
tendant of 10 years. My career in the airline aviation industry
began in 1981, where I served in many positions, including gate
agent, flight attendant trainer, and customer service instructor.
I am honored to be representing APFA and my 25,000 colleagues
to discuss the most significant challenge and daily danger facing
flight attendants right now.
Air rage has, unfortunately, become all too common. I have lost
count of the times I have been insulted or threatened on a flight
simply for doing my job.
The specific incident that I will share today is not easy to talk
about. On this flight, my crew had just completed our service. My
colleague, on the verge of tears, came to the galley after a pas-
senger who refused to wear a mask had been giving her a hard
time.
I left the galley to speak with the passenger. Politely I asked,
‘‘Sir, would you please put your mask on? It must be covering both
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20
your mouth and nose.’’ He looked at me, and I will not repeat the
epithet he used. He said, ‘‘N-word, I don’t have to listen to a damn
thing you say. This is a free country.’’
I was completely taken aback. I didn’t know what to say, but he
continued. ‘‘You heard me, n-word boy.’’
While I am trained for this, I know I don’t deserve to be spoken
to like this under any circumstance. But I replied, ‘‘Sir, regardless
of your thoughts, comments, or opinions, there is a mask require-
ment onboard our aircraft, and failure to comply could restrict your
ability to fly with us in the future. We wouldn’t want that to hap-
pen to you, sir.’’
He cited his freedoms and he called me the mask police. I said,
‘‘If you don’t do it for yourself, please do it for your family, who I
am sure loves you very much and would be devastated if something
were to happen to you. Please do it for your fellow passengers as
well.’’
He eventually calmed down and complied.
I, myself, have a personal experience with this virus. I under-
stand the importance of a mask mandate. In March of 2020, I con-
tracted COVID–19 and nearly died. The ER called my daughter on
her 24th birthday to say that it would be a miracle if I made it to
the morning.
After 10 days in the ICU, I stabilized, but I was not able to work
again until September of 2020. I could barely walk across the room
without oxygen.
The work environment I returned to had changed. And that inci-
dent I shared is not unique to me or my colleagues. Air rage comes
in many forms—insults, threats, physical assaults, general dis-
respect—simply for adhering to our responsibilities.
I too wear my mask for hours on end. I know what is at stake
if we don’t utilize all safety precautions to beat this pandemic.
Last year, we came to work when everyone else was told to stay
home. When demand for air travel dropped off steeply, we worried
about our job security. And I would like to thank this committee
for passing the Payroll Support Program, which saved our jobs, our
healthcare, and the industry. I cringe to think what would have
happened to me in the ICU without health insurance.
Now, flight attendants are in a third phase of crisis, worried
about our safety just by coming to work and fulfilling our duties.
Today we find ourselves in an environment where we may need the
voluntary self-defense skills offered by TSA.
The question, however, is how to prevent these situations from
escalating to that point. Medical emergencies, onboard fires, secu-
rity threats, and emergency evacuations are situations that we are
prepared for every day, every flight. But now our most immediate
danger is air rage. These days I come to work anticipating disrup-
tive behavior. It feels like flight attendants have become the target
for all kinds of frustration.
But every day, flight attendants are disrespected for the job we
are trained to do. My colleagues are anxious and fearful. What is
going to happen on the next flight? How will this passenger react
if I remind them to wear their mask? Will complying with airline
policy set them off? Can I avoid engaging, or would that be an eva-
sion of my duties?
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21
Many of you travel, on this committee, you travel every week and
understand the challenges of air travel today. We cannot combat
air rage without coordination at the Federal level.
Our passengers need clear expectations and strong consequences
for their behavior. One more air rage event, one more flight attend-
ant who is threatened or assaulted is one too many.
Thank you for your work to help keep my colleagues and I safe.
My testimony is complete, and I look forward to your questions.
[Mr. Andrews’ prepared statement follows:]
f
Prepared Statement of Teddy Andrews, Flight Attendant, American
Airlines, on behalf of the Association of Professional Flight Attendants
Good morning, Chairman DeFazio, Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves,
Ranking Member Graves, and members of the Committee. Thank you for the oppor-
tunity to testify today. My name is Teddy Andrews. I am a Charlotte-based Flight
Attendant and have been flying with American Airlines for ten years. My career
within the airline industry began in 1981, and since then, I have held numerous
positions, including gate agent, Flight Attendant trainer, and customer service in-
structor.
I am honored to be representing my Union, the Association of Professional Flight
Attendants, and my 25,000 colleagues to discuss the most significant challenge and
daily danger facing Flight Attendants right now. Air rage has reached unprece-
dented levels. Disrespect, threats, verbal abuse, and even physical assault directed
at flight crew have sadly become all too common. I thank this Committee for their
commitment to the safety of Flight Attendants and for holding this hearing to help
prevent future incidents from occurring.
At this point, I have lost count of the times I have been insulted or threatened
on a flight simply for doing my job. The specific incident that I will share with you
today is not easy for me to talk about. What should have been a routine domestic
flight made me question my career choice. On this flight, my crew had just com-
pleted our service and was collecting trash and performing the required compliance
checks. My colleague, on the verge of tears, came to the back galley and told me
that she was having trouble with a passenger who was not wearing a mask. The
passenger was deliberately not complying with the mask policy and was giving her
a hard time. I offered to help, as any fellow crewmember would.
I left the galley to speak with the passenger, who still had his mask off but was
not eating or drinking. As I approached him, I asked politely, ‘‘Sir, would you please
put your mask back on? It needs to be covering both your mouth and nose.’’
He looked at me, and here I will not repeat the vile epithet he used. He said,
‘‘N-----, I don’t have to listen to a damn thing you say, this is a free country.’’ I was
completely taken aback. I didn’t know what to say. Then he continued, ‘‘You heard
me, N----- boy.’’
I paused for a moment. While I am trained for this, I know I don’t deserve to be
spoken to like this under any circumstance. Finally, I replied, ‘‘Sir, regardless of
your thoughts, comments, or opinions, there is a mask requirement onboard our air-
craft, and failure to comply could restrict your ability to fly with us in the future.
We would not want that to happen, so, sir, please do what we’re asking of you. Put
your mask on and keep it on this flight.’’
He went on and said, ‘‘You nor the Government can control me, and you are noth-
ing but (damn) mask police. This entire virus thing is a big fake.’’ To this I an-
swered, ‘‘If you can’t do it for yourself, would you please do it for your family, who
I am sure loves you very much and would be devastated if something were to hap-
pen to you. Please do it for your fellow passengers as well.’’
The passenger eventually calmed down and put his mask on. I advised the cap-
tain of the disturbance who asked whether law enforcement was needed to meet our
aircraft, but we landed safely with no further issues.
This pandemic has been amongst the most trying and tumultuous times to work
in the airline industry. I also have a very personal experience with this virus. Early
in the pandemic, in March of 2020, I nearly died.
Upon returning from an assignment in Chile, I started experiencing aches, chills,
night sweats, coughing, and vomiting. I was tested at Urgent Care and the next day
the Department of Health and Human Services informed me I was positive for
COVID–19. I was placed on a 14-day in-home quarantine and sent a letter that said
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if I left my home for any reason, I was subject to a $2,000 fine and up to two years
in jail.
That week, my condition deteriorated. I was admitted to the ER with a fever of
104.5 and an oxygen level of 88%. My daughter, on her 24th birthday, was called
and told that it would be a miracle if I made it through the night. Intubation forms
and DNR forms needed to be signed.
But after ten days in the ICU, I stabilized. My recovery took months. I was not
able to work from March until September. I could barely walk across the room with-
out oxygen. Today, I’m still recovering from chronic headaches. But against the
odds, I am here, and I can work at the job I love again.
However, the environment I have come back to has changed entirely, and the inci-
dent I shared is not unique to my colleagues or me. We have been insulted by pas-
sengers in different ways and on many separate occasions, simply for adhering to
our responsibilities.
When I fly, I, too, must wear a mask for hours on end because it is part of my
job. I fully understand that it is not always pleasant to wear. But I also know, on
both personal and professional levels, what is at stake if we don’t utilize all avail-
able safety precautions to beat this pandemic.
This virus has taken a tremendous toll on the airline industry. Flight Attendants
were deemed essential frontline workers. We came to work when everyone else was
told to stay home. Then, when the demand for air travel dropped off steeply, we
worried about our job security. We have Congress and the leadership of this Com-
mittee to thank for passing the Payroll Support Program and saving our jobs, our
healthcare, and our industry during this pandemic. I cringe to think what would
have happened to me in the ICU had I lost my health insurance.
But now, Flight Attendants are in a third phase of this crisis, worried and anx-
ious about our safety simply by coming to work and fulfilling our job responsibil-
ities. Flight Attendants have been offered voluntary self-defense training which was
first introduced after the terrorist attacks of 9/11. Today, we find ourselves in an
environment where we may need to employ these skills. The problem that must be
solved is how we can prevent these situations from escalating to that point.
This type of environment makes it difficult for Flight Attendants to perform our
duties as safety professionals. Medical emergencies, onboard fires, security threats,
and emergency evacuations are all situations in which we are prepared to encounter
every time we come to work. But now our most immediate danger, and our biggest
distraction, is the number of incidents we find ourselves having to deescalate. I be-
lieve that passengers who so willfully cause disruptions, who show no regard for our
policies and personnel, put all others in danger.
These days I come to work expecting some form of disrespect or air rage. It feels
like Flight Attendants have become the target for all kinds of frustrations that some
people are feeling. Sometimes it happens when passengers disagree with airline or
federal policies. At times passengers are emboldened by alcohol. But above all, ev-
eryday Flight Attendants are not being respected for the job we are here and
trained to do.
My colleagues are anxious. What is going to happen on the next flight? How will
this passenger react if I remind them to wear their mask? Will complying with air-
line policies set them off? Can I avoid engaging, or would that be an evasion of my
duties? This is now our constant fear.
I know many of you on this Committee travel each week and personally under-
stand the challenges of air travel today. We cannot combat this issue without solid
coordination at thefederal level. We must ensure that passengers have clear expec-
tations and consequences for their behavior in flight. One more air rage event—one
more Flight Attendant who is singled out, threatened, or assaulted—is one too
many.
Protecting ourselves from unruly passengers has become the top issue for our
Union this year. Successfully deterring this behavior will require full coordination
between all aviation, airport, and government stakeholders. Everyone has a part to
play. Here are some initiatives that our Union supports.
1. Establishment of a federal ‘‘no-fly’’ list for disruptive passengers
2. Full enforcement of civil penalties/fines, no settlements
3. Federal criminal prosecution where it applies
4. Public identification of passengers who have verbally/physically assaulted
crewmembers
5. Creation of a public campaign on behavior/consequences funded through as-
sessed fines
6. Confiscation of all alcohol through TSA
7. Discontinuation of to-go alcohol and shots in airports
8. Increased police and security presence in airports
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9. Increased monitoring of passengers through the airport, TSA, and prior to
boarding
10. Consistent enforcement of the mask mandate throughout the airport and se-
curity
11. Inclusion of updated de-escalation and TSA self-defense training for Flight At-
tendants at annual requalification training
Thank you for the work you do to help keep my colleagues safe. My testimony
is now complete.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you for your testimony.
I now want to recognize Chris Bidwell—just a moment.
I will recognize Mr. Christopher Bidwell from the Airports Coun-
cil International–North America.
Mr. Bidwell, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Mr. BIDWELL. Chairman Larsen, Chairman DeFazio, Ranking
Member Graves, Ranking Member Graves, and members of the
subcommittee, thank you for inviting me to participate in today’s
hearing.
I am Christopher Bidwell, senior vice president of security at
Airports Council International–North America. I appreciate the op-
portunity to discuss the work of the airport operators in responding
to and helping to reduce the number of unruly passenger incidents.
As the security of their passengers, employees, tenants, and fa-
cilities is their top priority, airports implement a number of meas-
ures. Airports coordinate these security measures with their part-
ners at the TSA, FAA, FBI, other Federal, State, and local law en-
forcement agencies, and the airlines.
COVID has created a lot of stress for our members, our industry,
and the traveling public. Due to that stress, many people are acting
differently in various aspects of their lives, and air travel is no dif-
ferent.
While it is easy to blame the rise of unruly passenger incidents
on one cause or another, there are a variety of factors that con-
tribute to the incidents to which our airport members are asked to
respond.
We applaud the FAA for implementing a zero-tolerance policy.
We also appreciate TSA for having doubled the civil penalty viola-
tions for the Federal mask mandate.
Much has been discussed in the press about the role of alcohol
and the behavior of unruly passengers, but we have yet to see data
on the number of incidents that involve alcohol.
Bartenders in restaurants and bars at airports must be certified
and trained by local alcohol licensing authorities. Airport conces-
sionaires are subject to the same licensing, oversight, and inspec-
tion requirements in order to maintain a license to serve alcohol as
any other establishment in the local community.
Airports work with their airline partners on initiatives to raise
awareness about the FAA regulation prohibiting passengers from
drinking their own alcohol onboard aircraft.
With certain States and communities having lifted mask require-
ments, many residents were surprised, frustrated, or even upset by
TSA’s extension of the mask mandate at airports, and calls for air-
port law enforcement support increased significantly. This remains
an added burden on airport law enforcement that is in addition to
their existing responsibilities.
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Airport law enforcement faces a number of challenges when
called by airlines to respond to unruly passenger incidents. Where-
as interference with crewmembers is a Federal offense under title
49 of the United States Code, section 46504, airport law enforce-
ment can only enforce State and local law.
Depending on the nature of the incident, airport law enforcement
officers may only be able to conduct a cursory investigation and
turn the case over to Federal authorities.
Let me be clear. Airport law enforcement attempts to hold unruly
passengers accountable for their dangerous behavior while oper-
ating in accordance with State and local law.
In some instances, airline crewmembers are reluctant to stay
around to press charges, even when they have been assaulted. Un-
less crewmembers press charges, airport law enforcement officers
may not be able to legally detain the unruly passenger.
We are committed to being part of the solution and encourage
the implementation of the following recommendations.
First, airline gate agents, as the first line of defense, should be
extra vigilant for signs and deny boarding to those individuals they
suspect are intoxicated.
Second, when an incident occurs, airline crewmembers should
make statements to airport law enforcement and press charges to
enable criminal prosecution.
Third, airport law enforcement should be provided the flexibility
to prioritize the response to unruly passenger incidents.
Fourth, FAA and TSA should share more detailed and timely
data on incidents with airport operators to ensure better situa-
tional awareness.
Fifth, the U.S. Government should prioritize the prosecution of
individuals who interfere with crewmembers and broadly publicize
successful criminal prosecutions and civil penalty actions.
ACI–NA and our member airports are committed to working
with Congress, FAA, TSA, FBI, and other law enforcement agen-
cies and aviation stakeholders to identify good practices to reduce
the number of unruly passenger incidents. We look forward to co-
ordinating with our industry and Government partners to imple-
ment our recommendations to address this important issue.
Thank you for the opportunity to testify today. I look forward to
your questions.
[Mr. Bidwell’s prepared statement follows:]
f
Prepared Statement of Christopher R. Bidwell, Senior Vice President of
Security, Airports Council International–North America
Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, and Members of the Subcommittee,
thank you for inviting me to participate in today’s hearing. I am Christopher
Bidwell, Senior Vice President of Security at Airports Council International–North
America (ACI–NA), the trade association representing the local, regional, and state
governing bodies that own and operate airports in the United States and Canada.
I appreciate the opportunity to discuss the work of airport operators in responding
and helping to reduce the number of unruly passenger incidents.
Mr. Chairman, each day, airports, operating in today’s dynamic threat environ-
ment, implement a variety of measures to provide for the security of their pas-
sengers, employees, tenants and facilities. To this end, airports coordinate closely
with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), Transportation Security Adminis-
tration (TSA), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), the Federal Bureau of In-
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vestigation (FBI), other federal, state and local law enforcement agencies, and their
airline partners to maintain a comprehensive, multi-layered, risk-based aviation se-
curity system. In our testimony, we have included several recommendations to ad-
dress and mitigate unruly passenger incidents.
COVID has created a lot of stress for our members, our industry and the flying
public. Due to that stress, many people are acting differently in various aspects of
their lives, and air travel is no different. While it is easy to blame the rise of unruly
passengers incidents on one cause or another, there are a variety of factors that con-
tribute to the incidents to which our airport members are asked to respond.
As with any issue in the aviation business, we arrive at the best outcomes when
industry and government work together as a community to identify potential gaps
and improve communication, processes and procedures.
We applaud the FAA for implementing a zero tolerance policy to raise awareness
about the issue of unruly passengers and for taking action against those individuals
whose behavior is causing problems in the aviation system. We also appreciate the
TSA for doubling the amount of civil penalties that may be imposed on individuals
who violate the federal mask mandate.
At ACI–NA, we have been proactively working on a number of fronts to address
the challenges:
• At our request, the FAA briefed our Marketing, Communications and Customer
Experience Committee on the issue of unruly passengers, so airports can am-
plify FAA’s message and share information about how they are assisting their
airline partners.
• Our Public Safety & Security Committee identified and shared good practices,
processes, and procedures airport management, airport law enforcement, TSA
and the airlines have implemented to address unruly passenger behavior.
• ACI–NA has held and continues to participate in joint meetings with member
airports, Airlines for America, the Airport Law Enforcement Agencies Network
(ALEAN) and concessionaires to share information and identify strategies to
mitigate the causes that give rise or contribute to unruly passenger incidents.
Much has been discussed in the press about the role of alcohol in the behavior
of unruly passengers, but we have yet to see any data on the number of incidents
that involve alcohol. Bartenders who work in airport restaurants and bars must be
certified and trained by local alcohol licensing authorities. Commensurate with the
oversight of local restaurants and bars with liquor licenses, airport concessionaires
are subject to the same licensing, oversight, and inspection requirements in order
to maintain a license to serve alcohol. In general, airports have no authority over
alcohol licensing, but continue to work with their airline partners on initiatives to
raise awareness with travelers about the FAA regulation prohibiting passengers
from drinking alcohol on board the aircraft unless it is served by the air carrier.
Some airports have deployed signage to assist airlines that are reluctant to make
announcements during the boarding process. Other airports worked with local air-
lines to design and institute the use of marked cups to assist airline gate agents
in identifying those that contain alcohol.
In accordance with TSA security regulations, airport operators provide law en-
forcement officers, with arrest authority, in the number and manner adequate to
support their federally approved security programs. Airport law enforcement officers
are available, committed, and respond to incidents when requested by air carriers
serving the airport.
With certain states and communities having lifted mask requirements, many resi-
dents were either surprised, frustrated or upset by TSA’s extension of the mask-
wearing requirement at airports, and calls for airport law enforcement support in-
creased significantly. This remains an added burden on airport law enforcement, in
addition to their existing responsibilities for investigating and preventing criminal
activity, enforcing requirements in the airport security program, and supporting
TSA screening checkpoint operations.
TSA created the Law Enforcement Officer Reimbursement Program to partially
reimburse airports for providing law enforcement officer staffing and support at
screening checkpoints. Although TSA planned to recruit, train and deploy a total of
2,000 Federal Law Enforcement Officers at security checkpoints, the agency did not
have the funding to do so. Over time, many airports have entered into reimbursable
agreements with TSA to provide law enforcement officers to support TSA screening
operations. As security threats continue to evolve, TSA has imposed additional re-
quirements on airport law enforcement officers. Through the TSA Modernization
Act, Congress clearly recognized the significant security value of the TSA Law En-
forcement Officer Reimbursement Program and required TSA to expand it. Congress
should continue to provide TSA adequate funding to fully support this important
program.
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In responding to calls from airlines to address unruly passenger incidents, airport
law enforcement faces a number of challenges. Whereas interference with crew-
members is a federal offense under Title 49 of the United States Code section 46504,
airport law enforcement can only enforce state/local laws. Depending on the nature
of the incident, airport law enforcement officers may only be able to conduct a cur-
sory investigation and turn the case over to federal authorities.
Let me be clear, airport law enforcement attempts to hold unruly passengers ac-
countable for their dangerous behavior, while operating in accordance with state
and local law.
In some instances, however, airline crewmembers are reluctant to stay around to
press charges, even when they have been assaulted. Unless crewmembers press
charges, airport law enforcement officers may not be able to legally detain the pas-
senger.
If there is a physical or sexual assault that occurs while the aircraft is in flight,
the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has jurisdiction. Typically, airport law en-
forcement will collect information, and contact the FBI. Although the FBI can re-
quest airport law enforcement to detain the passenger on a federal charge, it is rare
and usually occurs only when an aggravated assault or altercation has occurred.
Most of the time, FBI requests airport law enforcement to gather information and
forward the reports, so the agency can follow up.
Further, as it pertains to incidents that occur at an airport, many state criminal
and procedural laws require law enforcement officers to witness the crime in order
to detain the perpetrator.
As I stated previously, it takes the community to solve the problem. We are com-
mitted to being part of the solution, working with the FAA, TSA, our members,
other government agencies and the rest of the aviation community to implement the
following recommendations to address unruly passenger incidents.
• Airline gate agents, as the first line of defense, should be extra vigilant for signs
and deny boarding to those individuals they suspect are intoxicated, and notify
airport law enforcement.
• When an incident occurs, airline crewmembers should make statements to air-
port law enforcement and press charges to enable criminal prosecution.
• Airport law enforcement should be provided the flexibility to prioritize the re-
sponse to unruly passenger incidents.
• FAA and TSA should share more detailed and timely data on incidents with air-
port operators to ensure greater situational awareness.
• The U.S. Government should prioritize the prosecution of individuals who inter-
fere with crewmembers, and broadly publicize successful criminal prosecutions
and civil penalty actions.
CONCLUSION
ACI–NA and its member airports are committed to continue to work with Con-
gress, FAA, TSA, FBI, and other law enforcement agencies and aviation stake-
holders to identify good practices to reduce the number of unruly passenger inci-
dents. We look forward to coordinating with our industry and government partners
on the implementation of our recommendations to address this important issue.
Thank you for the opportunity to submit this written testimony.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you, Mr. Bidwell.
I now recognize Ms. Lauren Beyer, vice president of security and
facilitation for Airlines for America.
Ms. Beyer, you are recognized for 5 minutes.
Ms. BEYER. Good morning. My name is Lauren Beyer, and I am
the vice president of security and facilitation at Airlines for Amer-
ica. A4A appreciates the opportunity to testify today, and I am hon-
ored to be presenting alongside our labor and airport partners on
this important topic.
The top priority of A4A passenger carriers is the safety and well-
being of all employees and passengers, and we are dedicated to
working with our employees, Government partners, and other pri-
vate-sector stakeholders to address unruly behavior and ensure
that appropriate penalties for egregious conduct onboard aircraft
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are fully pursued. There is simply no place in our skies for pas-
sengers’ unruly and disruptive behavior.
I would like to thank the leadership of this committee, specifi-
cally Chairs DeFazio and Larsen and Ranking Members Graves
and Graves, for your steadfast commitment and oversight of this
issue. Your support and advocacy for strict enforcement of incidents
has played a critical role in the Federal Government’s continued
enforcement of the Federal Aviation Administration’s zero-toler-
ance policy for travelers who do not follow crewmember instruc-
tions and who do not abide by Federal law.
While most passengers, as has been noted, continue to comply
with crewmember instructions, we unfortunately have seen a very
concerning uptick in unruly passengers aboard aircraft this year.
And though the frequency of these incidents remains relatively
low compared to passenger volume, even one unruly passenger
event is one too many. Each incident is thoroughly investigated by
the airline to determine the facts and details of the case, and the
incidents are also reported to the FAA.
In addition to the FAA’s independent civil enforcement process
and any potential criminal prosecution, A4A member airlines can
choose to place a passenger on an internal no-fly list, denying that
passenger from flying on that airline.
Coordination and communication with our Federal partners has
been really critical. Airlines have been in regular communication
with the FAA and the Transportation Security Administration to
exchange information.
We appreciate the FAA’s efforts just this week to provide a forum
for industry and Government to share best practices and identify
additional actions that can be taken across the entire aviation eco-
system.
In June, A4A sent letters to the FAA and the Department of Jus-
tice requesting our Federal partners do everything possible to in-
crease the public awareness of the ramifications of unruly inci-
dents. In the FAA letter, we requested the agency refer egregious
cases to the DOJ so that they may swiftly prosecute criminal acts
to the fullest extent of the law.
The FAA compliance and enforcement program already directs
this coordination when a case supports criminal enforcement ac-
tion.
A4A worked with a coalition of airline and labor partners to ask
the Department of Justice to direct Federal prosecutors to dedicate
the resources for these egregious cases and to send a strong and
consistent message through criminal enforcement that compliance
with Federal law and upholding aviation safety are of paramount
importance.
As the airline industry, we understand there are steps that we
needed to take to better address the problem as well. Each of our
member airlines has taken steps to evaluate what more can be
done and make enhancements, in consultation with their employee
groups, to policies, training, communications, and more.
Earlier this year, A4A and our members began collecting and
sharing best practices across carriers to improve the airline re-
sponse to these incidents. Such best practices include the perform-
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ance of safety risk assessments, management and employee train-
ing initiatives, and enhancements to customer-facing initiatives.
These efforts have led to engagement across the broader indus-
try, to discuss collectively what more can be done. As a result, we
are now working on a cross-industry, self-initiated, best practices
effort that includes my fellow panelists.
We believe an industrywide approach is beneficial so that all en-
tities with responsibility in the aviation sector have visibility into
what the other entities are doing to address the problem.
We will continue to work together with labor, Government part-
ners, and other industry stakeholders to do everything possible to
prevent and better respond to these incidents.
Thank you again to the committee for raising awareness of this
concerning trend, and I look forward to your questions.
[Ms. Beyer’s prepared statement follows:]
f
Prepared Statement of Lauren Beyer, Vice President of Security and
Facilitation, Airlines for America
Good morning, my name is Lauren Beyer, and I am the Vice President of Security
and Facilitation at Airlines for America (A4A). A4A appreciates the opportunity to
testify, and I am honored to be presenting alongside our labor and airport partners
on this important topic.
The aviation sector has worked collaboratively on many issues over the course of
the COVID–19 pandemic, including our collective commitment to address unruly
passenger behavior and ensure that appropriate penalties for egregious conduct on-
board aircraft are fully pursued. The safety and wellbeing of all employees and pas-
sengers is the top priority for U.S. airlines, and there is simply no place in our skies
for passengers’ unruly and disruptive behavior. Regardless of mode of transpor-
tation, whether it be an airline, train, bus or other, these incidents can pose a safety
and security threat, and they should be dealt with both swiftly and strictly.
THANK YOU
At the onset, I would like to specifically thank the leadership of this Committee
for their steadfast commitment and oversight of this issue. Your support and advo-
cacy for strict enforcement of incidents has played a critical role in the federal gov-
ernment’s continued enforcement of the Federal Aviation Administration’s (FAA)
‘‘zero tolerance’’ policy for travelers who do not follow crewmember instructions and
who do not abide by federal law.
We are grateful for the FAA’s efforts to maintain and increase awareness of the
‘‘zero tolerance’’ policy and violations for disruptive behavior. We also appreciate the
Administration’s continued enforcement of the federal mask mandate for transpor-
tation and are grateful for efforts to raise awareness of potential penalties and en-
courage compliance from all travelers. And we are thankful to all the airline pas-
sengers who simply follow the rules every day and go about their travels without
incident. While media attention may focus on dramatic, negative events, those inci-
dents are the exception and not the rule. The vast majority of passengers do comply
with crewmember instructions. We value and appreciate those customers.
INCIDENT DATA, REPORTING AND RESPONSE
While most passengers comply with crewmember instructions, we unfortunately
have seen a very concerning uptick in unruly passenger incidents onboard aircraft
in 2021. Year-to-date in 2021 we have seen FAA investigations increase to 17.8 per
every 10 million passengers compared to 4.9 in 2020 and 1.6 in 2019. While that
is a large increase, the frequency of these incidents remains relatively low at one
investigation initiated for every 563,000 passengers enplaned. However, even one
unruly passenger event is one too many. These events are taken very seriously, and
each incident is reported to the FAA and thoroughly investigated by the airline to
determine the facts and details of the incident. In addition to the FAA’s independent
civil enforcement process and referrals to the Department of Justice (DOJ) for crimi-
nal prosecution, A4A member airlines can choose to place a passenger on an inter-
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nal no-fly list, denying that passenger from flying on that airline. Incidents are
dealt with on a case-by-case basis.
FEDERAL COORDINATION AND COMMUNICATION
Coordination and communication with federal partners has been critical. Since the
federal mask mandate was implemented in January 2021, airlines have held regular
calls with the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) and the FAA to ex-
change information, data and trend analysis. This routine dialogue has proven help-
ful in providing the industry visibility into trends at particular airports or other
timely updates. That coordination continues today.
Given the alarming escalation in incidents, in June 2021, A4A sent letters to the
FAA and the DOJ, requesting our federal partners prosecute violators to the fullest
extent of the law and do everything possible to increase the public awareness of the
ramifications of unruly behavior including jail time and significant financial pen-
alties.
In the FAA letter, we requested the agency refer abhorrent cases to the DOJ so
that the federal government may fully, swiftly and publicly prosecute criminal acts
to the fullest extent of the law and deter this dangerous and concerning behavior.
We believe the DOJ is well-equipped with the authority and processes to criminally
prosecute qualifying passenger behavior. Specifically, Section 46504 of Title 49 of
the U.S. Code (49 U.S.C. § 46504) prohibits assault or intimidation of a flight crew-
member or flight attendant that interferes with the performance of a crewmember’s
duties or lessens the ability of the crewmember to perform those duties. The pre-
scribed penalty ranges from a fine to imprisonment for not more than 20 years, or
both. The FAA Compliance and Enforcement Program instructs that FAA’s enforce-
ment counsel promptly coordinate FAA enforcement action with the DOJ, when an
Enforcement Investigation Report contains allegations supporting both criminal and
legal enforcement action.
We made clear that our member airlines and our labor partners are committed
to working with the FAA, DOJ and the entire Federal government to ensure on-
board safety and security. This includes participation in any investigation of on-
board behavior and collaboration in any prosecution of passengers. To the extent
that the FAA, DOJ, and TSA consider coordinating the collection of case informa-
tion, we support any consolidation efforts and standby to assist.
We are grateful to the FAA for their strong, direct video messages, social media
posts and other public comments that speak directly to unruly passengers and clear-
ly articulate the FAA’s ‘‘zero tolerance’’ policy. We also applaud the FAA for the
transparency in publicizing the outcomes of some of their most egregious civil en-
forcement cases as well as the civil penalties assessed. We continue to encourage
the FAA, Congress and any other federal entities to amplify that messaging to reach
all travelers.
Concurrently, we joined a multitude of industry voices, including airlines and
unions, in writing to the Attorney General requesting that the DOJ send a strong
and consistent message through criminal enforcement that compliance with federal
law and upholding aviation safety are of paramount importance. Making prosecu-
tions public puts a spotlight on the serious consequences of breaking the law and
act as effective deterrents against future onboard disruptions. In consort with the
FAA’s special emphasis on its enforcement program, the DOJ should direct federal
prosecutors to dedicate resources for egregious cases, again with full cooperation
from airlines and labor. We continue to support those efforts.
Additionally, we are encouraged by the White House’s recent announcement that
TSA is increasing fines for violations of the TSA Security Directive that implements
the federal mask mandate.
STAKEHOLDER COORDINATION AND BEST PRACTICES
As an industry, we understand there are steps we can take to better address the
problem. Earlier this year, A4A and our member airlines began collecting and shar-
ing best practices across carriers in an attempt to improve the airline response to
these incidents. Such best practices include the performance of safety risk assess-
ments; management and employee training initiatives; and enhancements to cus-
tomer initiatives.
These efforts have led to engagement across the broader industry to discuss collec-
tively what more can be done. As a result, we are now working on a cross-industry
best practices effort with the intent to illustrate the types of approaches that can
help prevent or respond to incidents. We believe an industry-wide approach is bene-
ficial so all entities with responsibility in the aviation sector have visibility into
what the other entities are doing to address the problem, especially as it pertains
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to keeping unruly passengers off the aircraft and de-escalation of incidents if they
happen onboard.
CONCLUSION
The safety and wellbeing of all employees and passengers is the top priority for
U.S. airlines. We appreciate the federal government’s continued support and en-
forcement of the ‘‘zero tolerance’’ policy for travelers who do not follow crewmember
instructions and who do not abide by federal law, and we are grateful for the FAA’s
efforts to increase awareness of violations of this policy. We appreciate Congres-
sional efforts and the Administration’s continued support for and enforcement of the
federal mask mandate for transportation. U.S. airlines are grateful for efforts to
raise awareness of potential penalties and encourage compliance from all travelers.
As they have done for months, U.S. airlines will continue to comply with the federal
mask mandate and strictly enforce this requirement in collaboration with the TSA
and the FAA. While an unruly incident video may go viral, the repercussions for
that behavior may not. We can all do better to make certain the traveling public
knows any abhorrent behavior will be met with significant consequence. Airlines
will continue to do all they can to work with our employees, government partners
and other private sector stakeholders to address these issues.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you, Ms. Beyer.
And we will now turn to Member questions, and I will recognize
myself for 5 minutes.
Ms. Nelson, my first question is for you. Certainly, in a con-
tinuum of trying to tamp down these incidents, there is a preven-
tion side, there is the management of the situation in the cabin
part, but then there is the enforcement as well of any charges.
But in your survey, you said 60 percent of respondents experi-
encing a physical incident onboard said law enforcement was re-
quested to meet their flight. In those instances, did law enforce-
ment meet the flight?
Ms. NELSON. Chairman Larsen, in not every instance was law
enforcement actually able to meet the flight in time before the pas-
senger left the scene.
But what is also concerning is that 40 percent of that time—we
are talking about physical altercations here—law enforcement was
not requested to meet the flight, which means that there is a break
in communication at some point here in even getting that request
to law enforcement.
But you are correct, not in every case did law enforcement actu-
ally meet the flight when there was a request.
Mr. LARSEN. Yeah. And, again, I just want to reiterate, there is
a prevention side, which I think we are going to explore a little bit,
there is the management of the situation in the cabin, and there
is enforcement. So I am not just saying it is only a law enforcement
issue, but when it does need to occur, it should occur.
Mr. Bidwell, you talked a little bit about the coordination, lack
thereof; what improvements can occur with regards to airport law
enforcement. Can you expand on that a little bit?
Mr. BIDWELL. Chairman Larsen, absolutely, I appreciate the
question. And as I mentioned in my statement, airport law enforce-
ment does everything within their power and authority to hold un-
ruly passengers accountable for their bad behavior.
There may be situations—and I can’t speak to the internal com-
munication and coordination issues within the airline—where there
may be a delay in requesting airport law enforcement assistance.
But suffice it to say, airport law enforcement responds when called
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to carriers, supports them in responding to unruly passenger inci-
dents.
Mr. LARSEN. It just seems already to me that, at least on the en-
forcement side, there are gaps in the communication that occurs to
ensure there is law enforcement available when requested.
But, Ms. Beyer, can you talk from the airlines’ perspective on
how that process works to ensure that there—or to increase the op-
portunity for law enforcement to be at the gate upon landing?
Ms. BEYER. Sure. Thank you for the question. So, it is the re-
sponsibility of the crewmembers onboard, when there is an inci-
dent, to communicate with the airline and to make the decision
that the incident onboard merits calling law enforcement to greet
the aircraft.
From our side, from a higher level, we have coordinated for many
months with our airport partners, with our airport law enforcement
partners to understand how we can improve any communication,
and to ensure that when law enforcement is called, they have the
resources and the time to greet the aircraft.
Mr. LARSEN. OK. Mr. Andrews, I just want to start off by under-
scoring, I recognize you work for American Airlines, not United, as
I said in my testimony. We will fix that, because I know you are
proud of your time there, and I apologize for that.
And it is really disheartening and disturbing to hear about this
incident that happened to you, the one you described on the flight.
What was the follow-on from that? Did you feel a need to report?
Did you feel a need to let it slide? How did you want to approach
it, and what eventually happened?
Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you for that question, Mr. Chairman.
There was no need to, in my experience on that situation, to esca-
late it any further. Following our threat and air management pro-
cedures, if the situation is deescalated and brought to resolve,
there is no need to contact the cockpit or to bring law enforcement
involvement.
Mr. LARSEN. There was not. At any point on the escalation scale,
then, what kind of incident would require you or compel you to re-
port that first to the cockpit and then to the gate you are flying
to?
Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you for that question, Mr. Chairman. That
would probably be at level 2 or anything higher, anything that
moves to a threatening level or physical interaction or anything be-
comes physical we are there to——
Mr. LARSEN. All right.
Mr. ANDREWS [continuing]. [Inaudible] move on.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you. Thank you. My time is up.
I will recognize Mr. Graves of Louisiana for 5 minutes.
Mr. GRAVES OF LOUISIANA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. Mr.
Chairman, I want to make note—let me say it again, I said it at
the beginning of my opening statement, and I am going to say it
again. Some of the instances we have seen with unruly passengers
are completely unacceptable. People need to be held fully account-
able under the law.
But I found it interesting in that—I want to say it again—we
have got to make sure that we are looking at this entire flight ex-
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perience. Why are these incidents increasing, spiking, like they
are? I heard alcohol, I heard masks, I heard other things.
Seventy-five percent—75 percent—of the air rage incidents that
are occurring are tied back to masks—75 percent. Six percent are
tied back to alcohol.
One of the things that I think about, and I said this in my open-
ing, you have different experiences that people see—people see
things like this [indicating a poster]. They see things like this hap-
pening. They see these things happening and they are trying to de-
cide, wait, what is the rule? Is there a rule? Is there exception?
People sit down at restaurants right outside the gates of the air-
plane, and they are all sitting there eating and maybe close to-
gether, and they don’t have masks on. Yet they come on an air-
plane, where they have been told that it is the cleanest air ever
and all sorts of recycling air, and they have got to put masks on.
And so I do think that we have got to really think through this
more holistically. I will say it again, not as myopically as just look-
ing at it, why are all these experiences tied back to masks?
I think it is the frustration people have, the—I think the condi-
tions that appear to be demonstrating a good bit of hypocrisy.
Mr. Chairman, I received a text message this morning from a
guy at home, which I have no idea how he knew this hearing was
happening. And he says, I want to share that I was traveling three
times a month but have almost given up air travel because the ex-
perience is so uncomfortable with the mask mandate. As long as
there is a mask mandate on airplanes and airports, I will avoid
them at all costs. I know a lot of fellow travelers who feel the exact
same way.
Look, I wear masks, I wear it here, I wear it on airplanes, but
I do think we have got to make sure that we are not focused on
too small of a subset of this issue and make sure that we are look-
ing a bit more holistically.
Ms. Nelson, I appreciate your testimony, appreciate you being
back before the committee. It seems that people, as I noted, are
somewhat stressed out right now, and there is a lot of anxiety, as
I noted in some of the statistics earlier.
Why do we see so many instances of flight attendants and airline
employees escalating the situations in some of the videos? What ef-
forts are you all working on to attempt to deescalate the situation?
And what I am thinking of specifically is, I know I have seen a
few videos recently with some of these kids, including one that was
having an asthma attack. Any thoughts there on how—I will use
that term again—we can ‘‘decompress’’ these incidents?
Ms. NELSON. Thank you, Mr. Graves. First of all, I just want to
note that everyone is at a stress level 10, everyone needs a little
bit of help, and there are always exceptions, but flight attendants
have done an extraordinary job of deescalating.
And part of the problem with deescalating is getting to the prob-
lem early so that you can deescalate. You also, oftentimes, if you
are the initial flight attendant to provide instruction and there is
a conflict created, you oftentimes need to call on another member
of the flightcrew to try to do that deescalation.
When we have staffing levels at minimum levels, we have fewer
people to be able to do that. We have fewer people to be able to
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identify the issues as they are occurring so that we can get to those
and deescalate them more successfully.
And I should just note that flight attendants do this every day.
Most incidents and most flights don’t make it on the evening news.
As you noted, these are a relatively small number of incidents.
But, yes, we need more staffing. We also have to recognize that
during the course of this pandemic, there has been conflicting infor-
mation coming from leadership about what we need to do to ad-
dress this public health crisis. And that is the biggest issue that
we find onboard.
You are correct, there has not been enough enforcement in the
airport and consistency around that. Flight attendants give instruc-
tions onboard that when you are eating or drinking, you are sup-
posed to dip your mask for a short period of time, put it back up
again. So there is very clear instructions onboard the plane for
that.
When you talk about the air circulation onboard, we talk about
levels of safety. All of the studies that show that great filtration on-
board is very important. But the aircraft is not like an office envi-
ronment. People are jammed in together much closer than any
other space. It is recirculated air. And so the mask, together with
the filtration onboard, together with the cleaning onboard, all of
these levels of safety are what keep us safe.
Now, I will tell you, flight attendants every single day have to
remind people, and, in fact, actually I was on a flight recently
where I had to be reminded by a flight attendant to put my mask
back up.
So not every instance is an instance of conflict. Sometimes we
have to remind that because people are forgetting. So there will be
instances of that. But the more that we can keep those masks on,
the more that we are going to keep everybody safe, and we have
to get through this pandemic.
Mr. GRAVES OF LOUISIANA. Thank you, Ms. Nelson.
Mr. LARSEN. I recognize Chair DeFazio for 5 minutes.
Mr. DEFAZIO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Nelson, Mr. Bidwell said that many times the affected flight
attendant or flightcrew will not wait around to report to airport po-
lice. Can you address that?
Ms. NELSON. Yes, I can. So flight attendants are scheduled quite
tight. Not all airlines have communicated to flight attendants that
they will support them, both emotionally and legally, when these
incidents occur.
There is a program at United Airlines that does provide this and
does provide communication to flight attendants that helps them
know that they will have that backing from the airline if they re-
port these incidents to law enforcement.
It is a disruption in the day. There is a lot of pressure on the
flight attendants to get to the next flight. They know that, because
of minimum staffing, if they don’t make the next flight, the next
flight may not go out on time.
And so all of these pressures are on the employee on the front
lines, not to mention the fact that we should recognize that these
are the victims. These are the people who have just been punched
in the face or have just been hurt in some way.
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And if they don’t have support around them right away to let
them know that they should report that, that they are going to be
supported in reporting that, oftentimes, in that state of shock, they
are not in a place where they are able to make a good decision on
their own without that information to make those reports.
So we often find that law enforcement will blame the crew. The
crew is not necessarily backed up by the airline, or just given good
information around that. And this is an area where we can im-
prove.
I don’t believe anyone is trying to do anything wrong here, but
the crews don’t have enough support around them, and they do
have plenty of pressure on them to keep moving.
Mr. DEFAZIO. Thank you.
So, Ms. Beyer, I would hope that your member airlines would
take that into account since FAA has asked them to look at what
additional measures can be taken.
Ms. Nelson specifically mentioned United having a good policy
around this. I assume that not all airlines have communicated
that. If you were going to be a little late for your next flight, delay
the next flight, because you have to report that someone punched
you, we are going to support you. So I would hope that that would
be part of the recommendations that would go.
Back to Mr. Bidwell, what about this to-go alcohol stuff? Again,
I have been flying, doing this job for 35 years. And until this year,
I never saw big to-go signs. Can’t the airports themselves—you are
saying, oh, well, it is local laws, like in Louisiana, you can walk
down the street, and some States—I think New Mexico stopped al-
lowing you to get drive-in, to-go drinks, but that is only recent.
So, couldn’t the airports themselves say to the concessionaires,
this could lead to a violation of Federal law, we want you to stop
this practice?
Mr. BIDWELL. Mr. Chairman, thank you for the question. Al-
though we have yet to see it, we understand the FAA has data in-
dicating that alcohol was involved in 6 percent of unruly passenger
incidents. And of that, we have no way of knowing whether the un-
ruly passenger was intoxicated when they arrived at the airport,
brought——
Mr. DEFAZIO. No, OK, I got that, but let’s say, this is new. Here
it is. I was getting a beer and some guy asked for like three shots
of vodka in a to-go cup. By the time he cranks that down with
whatever he drank beforehand, he is going to be drunk. And, yeah,
maybe it is only reported at 6 percent. Who knows.
I am asking you a simple question. This did not occur before
COVID, and why is it occurring now, and why won’t you stop it?
It is an inducement for people to break the law, just by carrying
it onboard, let alone whether or not they are going to get crocked.
Yes or no?
Mr. BIDWELL. So, to-go alcohol was available before the pandemic
in certain instances, and it is only available in a relatively few lo-
cations. And I will tell you that in order to assist airlines that are
reluctant to make announcements during the boarding process,
many airports have deployed signage. Other airports work with
local airlines to design and institute the use of marked cups to as-
sist airline gate agents in identifying those that contain alcohol. It
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is a coordinated effort, but only airline employees, and specifically
gate agents, can deny boarding to passengers.
Mr. DEFAZIO. Right. So, they are going to have to do
breathalyzers. All right, thanks. The answer is ‘‘No.’’
Again to Ms. Beyer, just on the preflight announcements, some
airlines have tougher announcements than others. I would hope,
again, that would be part of the consideration that the FAA is ask-
ing for, to talk a little more specifically about the potential pen-
alties in more harsh terms. OK, but here is a question.
Does law prohibit the airlines from sharing their no-fly lists? I
think it does, maybe, because it is collusion or something.
Ms. BEYER. Thank you, Mr. Chair, for the question. As I men-
tioned, the internal airline no-fly list has been a really critical tool
for us in response to this issue over the past year. I think it is im-
portant to note first, because there is sometimes some confusion,
that what we are talking about is an internal airline no-fly list——
Mr. DEFAZIO. Right. I am asking, though, can one airline share
it with another? Could there be a common database? Because
someone gets banned from one airline because of unruly, unaccept-
able behavior, they just switch to another one.
Ms. BEYER. So, there are legal and operational challenges with
airlines sharing those lists amongst one another——
Mr. DEFAZIO. OK. Then how about—OK, good, all right. That is
a good answer. Thank you. There is a problem. Maybe we can have
the FAA create a database, and they can ask people to post to that,
and then the airlines can access it in the future.
My time is expired. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you.
The Chair recognizes Mr. Massie of Kentucky for 5 minutes.
Mr. MASSIE. Thank you, Chairman Larsen. Thanks for having
this hearing.
No passenger should ever be violent or disrespectful to a flight
attendant or a member of the crew of an aircraft.
Everybody has a bad day now and then, and I always try to give
somebody the benefit of the doubt when I see stern words being ex-
changed between a passenger and a flight attendant. I am thinking
one of them is having a bad day. This is a stressful situation, and
just try to give people the benefit of the doubt.
I would suggest—and I am not really going to direct my state-
ments to the witnesses so much as my colleagues on this panel and
also the broader membership of the House. I would suggest that we
put these flight attendants and flightcrews in a very difficult situa-
tion, and there are some things that we might be able to do to al-
leviate that.
For instance, we live in a Republic where we elect Representa-
tives and they pass the laws. The reason we have it that way is,
if there were just one person or one nameless agency or bureauc-
racy that were promulgating these rules for us to live by, we have
no way to address our grievances.
And if the People’s House would actually vote on these regula-
tions—now, I don’t agree with the mask regulations, and I will get
into that later—but if we would vote on these things, they would
have the imprimatur of the support of the people, if the People’s
House would weigh in.
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But when people sit down in their aircraft to take their flight
and they hear a public service announcement that says Federal law
states, even myself, I am wondering, well, when was that Federal
law passed?
The reality is, there has never been a Federal law passed. Yes,
there are laws that you need to comply with the flight attendant,
and, yes, there has been an Executive order, but the problem with
that is what our Founders realized long ago: Unless you have the
buy-in of the people, it is going to be hard to get people to comply
with rules.
And so, I think a breakdown of our institutions, our govern-
mental institutions, is leading to this breakdown of society and
civil politeness to each other.
So, I would suggest that instead of wringing our hands and just
having a hearing and listening to this, that we actually weigh in,
instead of deferring everything to the executive branch and to peo-
ple who aren’t elected to make the rules.
And in the long run, I think it would be more helpful to our
flight attendants and the flightcrews, and we could all have a bet-
ter experience.
Now, let me get to another thing that I think is leading to these
problems, and the ranking member touched on it. The science is
very lightly presented here. I mean, what if in the pocket in front
of you, instead of just instructions for exiting the aircraft, were di-
rections for wearing a mask and also the science that shows to
what degree a cloth mask is less effective than an N95.
I mean, people, they are sort of—they are catching on. They are
not all scientists and engineers. But the cloth mask is the only
medical device or personal safety equipment in the United States
that is required, for which there is no specification, for which there
is no regulation.
People start to wonder, well, if these worked, wouldn’t there be
a specification on them, and which ones work better than others?
The science is not being presented here.
If we could persuade people of what is effective instead of trying
to force them—and then as the ranking member pointed out, we
see instances of our officials, the Speaker of the House going to
close, tightly packed fundraisers and not wearing the mask, or
other people within the Government who are on the planes and
leave their mask off for an extended period of time. That doesn’t
help either.
So, let me just close by saying this. I do not support vaccine man-
dates. I do not support mask mandates. I am not saying they are
not effective, but if we want to help out here, there needs to be a
persuasion campaign, not a coercion campaign, and it is not fair to
put the flight attendants in the middle of this. Some of it has be-
come political, but we put them in the middle of a situation that
is a no-win situation.
And I will just close with that and say, let’s get back to the
science, let’s get back to being reasonable and civil with each other,
and let’s get back to the job of legislating, instead of wringing our
hands because some administrative agency, which by the way, we
have the authority over, because they have done something or
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aren’t doing something we don’t agree with, but we haven’t given
them the instructions on what to do.
With that, I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. LARSEN. The gentleman yields back.
I now turn to Representative Cohen of Tennessee. You are recog-
nized for 5 minutes.
Mr. COHEN. Thank you, Mr. Chair. I want to thank all of our
witnesses.
For Mr. Andrews, I want to say that the behavior that you expe-
rienced was unacceptable, and there is no excuse for it. I don’t care
if people are upset because they have to wear masks. I don’t care
if they have higher stress. That behavior was totally unacceptable
and inexcusable, and it was wrong.
This question goes out to anybody that can give me an answer.
Has there been any—I guess I will start with Ms. Nelson. Has
there been any analysis of the demographics of the people who
have been involved in this outrageous behavior?
Ms. NELSON. Not that I am aware of, Mr. Cohen.
Mr. COHEN. Anybody else have any knowledge of any demo-
graphics on race, age, residence, anything at all?
Ms. NELSON. What I will tell you is that from our survey results,
many of these incidents were more likely happening out of places
where there has been a real inconsistent communication and very
clear opposition to masks and to dealing with this public health
emergency in a mobilized way.
Mr. COHEN. Can you be more specific? Are you saying that the
airports have been less, or are they the region?
Ms. NELSON. I am being specific to the region, and, obviously, the
airports are located in those regions. We have had——
Mr. COHEN. So are you saying basically the Southeastern Con-
ference region?
Ms. NELSON. We have had a lot of incidents out of Charlotte. We
have had a lot of incidents out of the Florida airports and out of
Texas. And I am not saying that there aren’t incidents in other
places at all, but there seems to be a higher concentration.
Mr. COHEN. Thank you, Ms. Nelson. That is kind of what I sus-
pected, and I would comment that Charlotte, which I have been
through on occasion, there is—I think it is gate A. It is the furthest
one out when you have to go to the terminal and go through it, and
you are over on the side where they sell the pizza and the nice kind
of area. The Chick-fil-A side that you go out the other way all the
way to the end.
They will stop serving food out there, give or take, 6 or 7 o’clock.
I think it is somewhere around there the food places are closed
down. But the alcohol places stay open, and I know they stay open
at least until the last flight is out. So the gentleman that—Mr.
Bidwell, you represent the airports, do you not?
Mr. BIDWELL. Yes, sir, I do.
Mr. COHEN. Why in the hell would they not give you food, but
they will give you alcohol?
Mr. BIDWELL. Congressman, I don’t know what exactly is the pol-
icy for the concessionaires at gate A at Charlotte International Air-
port.
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Mr. COHEN. Yeah. Well, it might be profit margin. It might be
they don’t give a hoot. But the areas where they sell the alcohol
are packed, and the people are fairly rowdy. They do have some
type of, like, little pork rinds or something like that, a real gourmet
area. And I like pork rinds, which is neither here nor there. But
they close the food. They close the food down, but the alcohol is in
abundance.
This behavior is just wrong. I had to raise the issue early on in
March of 2020 with the airlines to start enforcing masks because
I was on planes where the flight attendants didn’t wear masks, and
there was no requirement for anybody to wear them. The flight at-
tendants were not wearing masks either, and that is just wrong,
and it is—we need to get beyond that.
Mr. Andrews, I agree with all of your suggestions, and that was
very helpful, your 11 suggestions. Would any of them really cost
any money for the airlines and the airports to do that?
Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you for that question, Mr. Cohen. While I
am not an expert, I certainly would suggest that possibly if there
are fines that some of these passengers are subjected to, that pos-
sibly some of those fees or things can be paid for.
Mr. COHEN. They could use it, right. Thank you.
Let me just relate my anecdote. When I left DC the week of the
insurrection, there were lots of people in the airport that did not
have their masks on, and that is the airport’s fault. And when they
got on the plane, and they tried to hand them a little ointment to
wipe their hands, they objected and tossed it back to them.
Mr. LARSEN. The gentleman’s time has expired.
Mr. COHEN. That was the Southeastern Conference crowd.
I yield back the balance of my time.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you very much.
I recognize Mr. Perry of Pennsylvania for 5 minutes.
Mr. PERRY. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
Ms. Nelson, I just noted in your testimony that you stated, and
I quote, ‘‘I know there is not one person on this Aviation Sub-
committee that thinks that combative, abusive, defiant, and violent
behavior on our planes and in our airports is acceptable,’’ unquote.
I couldn’t agree more, and I don’t think there is a person on this
committee that could agree more with you.
So, I am just going to give you a statement and see if you agree
with this, then. No American should be subject to combative, abu-
sive, defiant, and violent behavior in the workplace, and such be-
havior should be universally condemned and subjected to the full
extent of the law, regardless of the perpetrator.
Is that something you can stand with, something you would
agree with?
Ms. NELSON. One hundred percent, and I appreciate you raising
these issues because I believe that this hearing is an opportunity
for us to identify issues where we can all work together to
make——
Mr. PERRY. That is great.
Ms. NELSON [continuing]. This better. Thank you.
Mr. PERRY. Thank you. I appreciate your response. I would like
to talk to you and address the issue of union violence, and some
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statements that you made, and to provide some context to the com-
mittee here and everyone else.
In 1969, the seminal study on union violence in America by Phil
Taft and Philip Ross noted the United States has had the bloodiest
and most violent labor history of any industrial nation in the
world. Now, unfortunately, the bloodshed and violence at the hands
of unions has continued at a disturbing rate. Since 1975, there
have been nearly 12,000 incidents of union violence reported by the
media, including the murder of 203 Americans, according to the
National Institute for Labor Relations Research, and those are just
incidents reported by the media. I mean, the rate of union violence
in America is staggering and should be received with universal con-
demnation by every single American, regardless of your affiliation.
Now, unfortunately and strangely, the Supreme Court prohibits
Federal prosecution of such violence if it is in pursuit of a legiti-
mate union objective, which, if you take Chairman DeFazio’s state-
ments, I would say is an inducement to break the law and commit
union violence.
Ma’am, in an interview with Splinter News, you stated, ‘‘It’s im-
portant to put out that clear, militant line, and have it be centered
around the workers and what they are willing to do. I’ve said,
‘sometimes you have to beat it out of them, sometimes they just
have to remember the beating they’ll take’ ’’ unquote. That is what
you said. You also said ‘‘The law doesn’t reflect moral clarity or
conscience. It doesn’t recognize the power of working people, but
the truth is, there are no illegal strikes, only unsuccessful ones,’’
unquote.
And then further, in July of this year, and I am just going to ab-
breviate the terminology for respect here. ‘‘F--- Taft-Hartley. F---
Taft-Hartley. A general strike likely doesn’t work without unions,
and just because it’s a law doesn’t mean it’s just,’’ unquote.
To me, these seem like explicit calls for violence and militancy,
claims that strikes are only illegal if they fail, and repeated calls
for illegal general strikes demonstrates a flagrant disregard for
property, life, and the rule of law. And, so, I am just wondering if
you are interested in maybe recanting any of these statements and
if you would agree that a zero tolerance regarding union violence
would be appropriate, because I agree with you that zero tolerance
regarding violence on an airplane is the standard we ought to
strive. So where do you stand on zero tolerance regarding union vi-
olence?
Ms. NELSON. I don’t know what you are talking about with union
violence. I know that the labor movement pushes peaceful civil dis-
obedience. I know that the mine workers who are in the sign right
behind me, right here, 1,100 mine workers on strike right now in
Alabama, have been peacefully demonstrating. They have been hit
five times with vehicles and——
Mr. PERRY. Ma’am, I just read your statements. Those are your
statements.
Ms. NELSON. I want to be very clear. I want to be very clear. My
friend, Paul Hartshorn, is behind here right now. He died on the
job. There were many people who died on the job. There are poultry
workers who were slammed into their——
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Mr. PERRY. Ma’am, that is great. I am talking about union vio-
lence.
Ms. NELSON. I am talking about the violence——
Mr. PERRY. I grew up in a time in Pennsylvania where—ma’am,
it is my time. I grew up at a time in Pennsylvania where Jock
Yablonski was killed by a union rival. He and his wife and his
daughter were killed. I grew up in a time—just last year and the
year before in south central Pennsylvania, the IBEW got a present-
ment for being the thugs, the helpful union guys for forced violence
and threats of violence. Will you renounce that, or won’t you?
Ms. NELSON. Let me be very clear.
Mr. PERRY. I guess you won’t.
Ms. NELSON. The labor—let me be very clear. The labor move-
ment is for peaceful protests, not violence.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you. The gentleman’s time——
Ms. NELSON. We are against violence against the workers. Thank
you.
Mr. LARSEN. The gentleman’s time has expired.
I recognize Representative Davids for 5 minutes.
Ms. DAVIDS. Thank you, Chairman.
Very briefly, I will just say that I appreciate the recognition by
the folks on here who have shown up to speak on behalf of their
union members, that the work that you all do is appreciated. And
as the daughter of a union steward, I would just like to recognize
that when folks go on strike and they do it peacefully, which is ex-
actly what we were just hearing about, it can lead to some very
positive change. And so, I just want to express my appreciation for
that.
And then I will yield my time to Chairman DeFazio.
Mr. DEFAZIO. I thank the gentlelady.
Mr. LARSEN. The gentlelady yields.
Mr. DEFAZIO. Ms. Nelson, I think it would be helpful to respond
to Mr. Perry’s statements. I guess he missed things like the Pull-
man strike and other slaughters of union organizers attempting
just to have a decent living and a decent life. So, I would yield you
time to respond if you would like.
Ms. NELSON. The Walter Reuther brothers were beaten on an
overpass near Detroit. They were assaulted for trying to fight for
healthcare, a decent living, the ability for workers to go into a
workspace without losing limbs because they are pushed so hard
against machinery that they can’t compete with with their human
bodies. The Ludlow strikers were gunned down and burned to
death when they were striking in tents, pushed out of company
housing. There were workers who were disrespected, and the mules
that were carrying the coal out of the mines were more important
than the workers.
This past year, for the past 18 months, we saw that workers
were treated as disposable. The strikes and the actions in return
have been about safety. They have been about improving the safety
for consumers, and certainly, as flight attendants, as pilots, as any-
one working in aviation, we take very, very personally when any
blood is shed.
And we said during the Government shutdown that our work-
space was becoming increasingly unsafe as we had 35 days of peo-
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ple not going with a paycheck; people, like air traffic controllers
who have to go into their workspace, and if they make a mistake,
it is an aircraft accident, so they have to put all distractions aside.
What could be more distracting than not getting a paycheck and
not knowing how you are going to be able to provide for your fami-
lies?
So, I want to be very clear that the violence perpetrated against
workers has been nonstop and has been persistent. And the unions
have organized against that, and they have organized against that,
both for workers’ rights and sometimes just to enforce the laws
that already exist but also, to make sure that consumers and other
people who are in our space, who we are serving, who are dedicated
and went to work on the front lines throughout this pandemic with
risk to ourselves and our families, and we lost our lives.
Some people, as Teddy said, went through horrible conditions be-
cause of it, and some people are suffering long-term effects of
COVID. And, so, these are the things that we fight against. This
is why we are here. We are dedicated to safety, we are dedicated
to the people who are in our care, and the actions that we take are
to keep everyone safe.
Mr. DEFAZIO. I thank you for that statement. The reconstructive
history of Mr. Perry was actually quite extraordinary, having stud-
ied the labor history, so I won’t comment any further because it
was so bizarre and absurd.
I yield back my time.
Mr. LARSEN. The gentleman yields back to Ms. Davids. Does Ms.
Davids yield back the rest of her time?
Ms. DAVIDS. I yield back.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you.
The Chair recognizes Mr. Burchett from Tennessee for 5 min-
utes.
Mr. BURCHETT. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. It is always tough to
follow my colleague from Tennessee, Representative and former
Senator Cohen, my dear friend who my mama would always say,
I just love that Steve Cohen, but dadgum, hon, sometimes I just
want to smack his little fat jaws, so—he is my dear friend. He
called my mama when my daddy died. So, I am kind of partial to
my buddy, Steve Cohen. I know that hurts him in his district and
hurts me in my district, but that is just the way it is.
Mr. Chairman, I appreciate you letting me speak. I recently
heard a story about a mama and her 2-year-old son being removed
from a plane because her son was suffering from an asthma attack
and couldn’t keep his mask on. A spokesman for the airlines said
after the fact that exemptions to the face covering requirements
may be granted to individuals with disabilities who make a request
to our special assistant team at least 72 hours prior to the depar-
ture.
I understand your all’s point for better communication with pas-
sengers on mask mandates before boarding, but what kind of ef-
forts are airlines actually making to ensure that the parents of
children with disabilities similarly receive advance notice of avail-
able medical exemptions? I have been flying a whole lot, like every-
body up here has, and I have never heard of any of this. If one of
y’all could answer that, please.
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Ms. BEYER. Congressman, I would be happy to answer your ques-
tion. The airlines have done many things since the mandate was
first implemented and gave very specific instructions and directions
to the airlines for what is permissible in terms of exemptions to the
mask mandate. And those things include very clear communica-
tions, what the requirements are at the time of booking, at check-
in and throughout that individual’s air travel journey.
I am not familiar with the specifics of the case you are referring
to, but what I would say is that each of the individual airlines, per
the U.S. Government requirements, have individual processes for
individuals to apply for those exemptions, and I do know that the
majority of those exemptions that are granted are given to younger
children with cognitive or other disabilities.
Mr. BURCHETT. OK. Well, this is a 2-year-old. You might want
to look it up. It is Chaya, C-H-A-Y-A, Bruck was the mama, and
it was her 2-year-old child, Dina, that this involved.
I would like to note, too. I am often on the plane, and they an-
nounce that it is Federal law that we have to wear a mask. Could
somebody please direct me to the code where that is, in fact, the
Federal law that you have to wear a mask, or is this a rule that
we have designated to the FAA to, in fact, enforce, but yet, we have
not put it on paper? I am curious.
Ms. BEYER. So, Congressman, I am happy to take that as well.
The transportation Federal mask mandate is a regulation imposed
on airlines and airports and transportation nonaviation partners
through an order of the CDC, as well as a security directive issued
by the Transportation Security Administration.
Mr. BURCHETT. But is that, in fact, a law? They state very clearly
over the microphone, and I suspect it would be time you could be
informing folks that have disabled children of what they need to
do. You tell us that it is, in fact, a Federal law that you have to
wear a mask.
Ms. BEYER. I would defer to my Federal agency counterparts
about the underlying statutory authority, but it is, indeed, a Fed-
eral requirement that is imposed on the operators of transpor-
tation.
Mr. BURCHETT. OK. Mr. Bidwell, you mentioned that airport law
enforcement should be provided the flexibility to prioritize the re-
sponse to unruly passenger incidents. Can you be a little more spe-
cific on what these flexibilities are and what you have in mind?
Mr. BIDWELL. Thank you, Congressman Burchett. Yes. Airport
law enforcement has a number of competing requirements when
they are called upon to respond when called by an airline. It can
be for an unruly passenger incident; it could be for a mask-related
incident; or it could be for some other related activity. And by regu-
lation, they are compelled to respond to the gate when called by the
airlines.
But our recommendation is that airport law enforcement be
given the discretion to prioritize the response to unruly passenger
incidents over mask-related incidents or other incidents.
Mr. BURCHETT. OK. Thank you, and I yield——
Mr. BIDWELL. Those take precedence, of course.
Mr. BURCHETT. I yield the remaining—my last 3 seconds to Rep-
resentative Cohen.
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Mr. COHEN. God bless your mother and father.
Mr. LARSEN. The gentleman’s time has expired.
The Chair recognizes Representative Williams of Georgia for 5
minutes.
Ms. WILLIAMS OF GEORGIA. Good morning, everybody, and thank
you, Chair Larsen, for holding this important hearing today. And
thank you to all of the witnesses for testifying and being here in
what I did not anticipate being a hostile witness situation.
Y’all, my district is home to Hartsfield-Jackson Atlanta Inter-
national Airport, our Nation’s busiest and most efficient airport.
Many of the people that you will see working there are my con-
stituents, and these folks help so many of us like me get to work
every week here in DC and help us travel across our country and
our world, and they prioritize passenger safety in their work every
single day. It is personal to me that here in Congress, that we
prioritize their safety as well. I am dedicated to protecting my con-
stituents from verbal and physical abuse, and disruption as they
continue to do their jobs and serve our travelers. Today’s hearing
will help us best prevent and respond to rising cases of air rage.
Ms. Nelson, Chair DeFazio touched on this earlier, but I want to
go deeper into this conversation. In your testimony, you mention an
abusive passenger can be banned from one airline but then can
jump on another carrier. You also recommend creating a database
for airlines to share information that will prevent this.
So, could you go into detail on what obstacles currently exist for
this kind of information-sharing across airlines and tell us any spe-
cific recommendations for Congress or regulators to help remove
the barriers to information-sharing that would benefit airports, air-
lines, workers, and passengers alike?
Ms. NELSON. Thank you very much for that question. Yes. We
had an incident where one regional carrier was providing service
for a mainline carrier, so this was not—this, in the passenger’s
eyes, was the same airline, actually, and an incident occurred on-
board a flight, attacked a crew. The passenger was banned from
that airline after the fact, but the passenger got off the flight, went
on to their next flight, and continued to be a problem on the next
flight performing for a different carrier.
So, if we simply have a coordination that can be coordinated from
the FAA, Chairman DeFazio was referring to this earlier, there are
potentially some issues to work through in terms of how this infor-
mation is shared. It is my understanding that through the contract
of carriage, the airlines already have the ability to share this for
safety reasons. And there could be a coordination through the FAA
where airlines are, in real time, sharing that information about
problem passengers so that other airlines can be flagged, and that
can be flagged in their system so that they can identify that and
assess the conditions and take appropriate actions at their airline
as well.
Ms. WILLIAMS OF GEORGIA. Thank you, Ms. Nelson. You also
mentioned in your testimony that 71 percent of flight attendants
who file incident reports did not get followup. Could you provide
some best practices for a process of following up on incident reports
and how important it is that this kind of process not only addresses
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the incident itself, but also ensures that workers know that steps
are being taken for their safety?
Ms. NELSON. Yes. Thank you very much for that question. I do
not believe that it means that 71 percent of the time that the air-
lines are not taking action. The importance of following back up
with crew to let them know that action was taken is very impor-
tant for backup of that crew, because the next time they go to their
flight and they are abused or attacked or experience another one
of these incidents, they are less likely, if they believe that nothing
is going to happen, to report it, so we have a break in the safety
chain there. And then, also, it is possible that they are hesitant to
even take action to enforce safety compliance, which leads to an
unsafe condition because they don’t believe that they have that
backup.
So, simply having the staff, and I will say, this is a challenge in
this era of coronavirus. Everyone has cut back. But having a proc-
ess at each airline where there is a simple followup to those re-
ports, that they have been received, they are being acted on. In not
every case can the flight attendants be given all the actions that
are being taken, but letting them know their report was received
and being acted on is going to help facilitate better safety onboard,
because that crewmember then goes back to do their job as they
are required to do, and doesn’t have any hesitancy in doing it.
Ms. WILLIAMS OF GEORGIA. Thank you.
And thank you, Mr. Andrews, for sharing your testimony today.
Thank you especially for sharing an incident that I know couldn’t
be easy to talk about. The racism and rage that you endured are
unacceptable, and I want to be sure that we can do all we can to
stop air rage incidents before they occur, so that dedicated airline
industry workers like yourself can do the job that you love to do.
Of the recommendations in your testimony to protect workers
from unruly passengers, which would make the biggest and most
immediate impact in preventing incidents of air rage? And I am out
of time.
Mr. LARSEN. The gentlewoman’s—yeah.
Ms. WILLIAMS OF GEORGIA. If you could give that answer to me
because I would love to find some immediate impacts that we could
do in this committee to help keep everyone safe in our air.
Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I yield back.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you. I will take that question for the record,
please.
And the Chair now recognizes Representative Nehls of Texas for
5 minutes.
Mr. NEHLS. Mr. Chairman, thank you.
The American people want to feel safe and secure when flying,
and it is important to provide those same protections to airline em-
ployees. I thank all the witnesses for being here and appreciate
what you do each and every day. However, I am discouraged by the
fact this committee hearing does not have witnesses from agencies
that are charged with protecting airline passengers and their em-
ployees. The FAA, TSA, DOJ, FBI, they are all absent, and this
makes no sense to me.
It is unfortunate our airline employees are facing difficult times.
It is unfortunate flight attendants are tasked with enforcing man-
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datory mask mandates on children 2 years old. It is unfortunate
flight attendants are required to patrol up and down the aisles, en-
suring small children are complying with these mask mandates.
And it is unfortunate these same flight attendants are tasked
with reporting these children and their families to authorities.
It is also unfortunate these families, after explaining to the flight
attendant that their child suffers from anxiety or are autistic or
suffers from asthma, which places that child in an unnecessary
health risk, will be forcibly removed, if necessary, from that flight.
[Reading from a poster] ‘‘I was not refusing a mask. Nor did I
even say I wouldn’t try to keep a mask on my son. We were es-
corted off the plane as I was holding a mask over his little face.
I genuinely don’t have words.’’
And, quite honestly, I wouldn’t know what to say to that mother.
It is important to note this administration is flying illegal immi-
grants around our country on commercial airlines using taxpayer
dollars with many of them not tested for COVID–19. The hypocrisy
of this administration may be a contributing factor to increased
tension on our airline employees. Testimony of one witness today
stated 75 percent of reports related to unruly passengers are re-
lated to mask noncompliance. I would like to see that data as to
how many of those reports were related to families with small chil-
dren. But, of course, without having representatives from the FAA
here, I don’t believe I will receive an answer.
But I do have a question for you, Ms. Beyer. In your testimony,
you stated that Federal cooperation will be critical to fighting air
rage. What actions taken by the Federal Government have been
most effective so far at helping the airlines maintain safety and se-
curity in regard to air rage?
Ms. BEYER. Thank you, Congressman, for the question. I think
it has been stated many times that we all have a role to play in
addressing these issues, both the United States Government and
the industry. In terms of specifically what the Government has
done that has been helpful to our efforts, we do applaud the Fed-
eral Aviation Administration for their efforts with the zero-toler-
ance policy for maintaining that policy, but also, in particular, for
the transparency in publicizing the outcomes of the cases that they
have adjudicated, and also publicizing the penalties involved. We
think that that is a strong deterrent to future misbehavior inci-
dents.
And back to what Ms. Nelson had offered earlier on that feed-
back loop to industry about what happens with those cases. It is
extremely helpful to the airlines so that we can continue to adjust
our policies and approaches to deal with these issues but also to
ensure that we have the information to provide to our employees
about what is being done after an incident occurs.
Mr. NEHLS. Thank you, Ms. Beyer, for your answer. And I think
that it would be very helpful to the airline industry and all of its
employees if this administration would actually comply with some
of the rules and regulations they want everyone else to follow. You
can see behind me [indicating a poster] with good old Mr. Kerry
here, and a bunch of crazies from Texas flying to DC, leaving Texas
doing their job, leaving Texas, flying up to Washington, DC. Do you
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see any of them with masks on? Where is the outrage from the air-
lines there? Where is the outrage from the administration?
I hope we give these individuals fines. Are we fining them? I
don’t think so. It is an outrage, quite honestly. Thank you for being
here.
Mr. LARSEN. The gentleman’s time has expired.
The Chair recognizes Mr. Johnson of Georgia for 5 minutes.
Mr. JOHNSON OF GEORGIA. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for holding
this hearing, and thank you to the witnesses for your time and tes-
timony.
Rage has become the defining emotion of our times, and we wit-
nessed rage from Trump and Members of Congress when Trump
lost the election. The flying public was pummeled with false claims
that the election was stolen. And we all witnessed the rage against
Congress spurred on by those same leaders who instigated the infa-
mous insurrection on January 6. These are the same leaders who
spread the other big lie, that the COVID–19 pandemic is a fraud,
you can’t believe Dr. Fauci, and that Democrats are taking away
your personal freedom with mask mandates.
As a result, people are angry and confused. They get on flights,
and they let out their rage after having seen their leaders refuse
to follow the rules. They have seen belligerence from the Nation’s
highest leaders become acceptable behavior. So, if the leaders can
do it and get away with it, they think it is OK for them to do the
same thing. So, when they get to the airport, folks feel like they
can say and do anything they want because they have been misled
into believing that their personal freedom trumps, pun intended,
their responsibility to their fellow man or for the common good.
Then, politicians blame air flight rage on hypocrisy of those who
take off their masks to eat at airport restaurants. Unbelievable.
Rage is emboldened by the careless and ill-thought-out actions of
leaders who insist the pandemic is unreal and who eschew public
health safety measures. Rage in the skies is one of the unfortunate
but predictable results.
Mr. Andrews, misinformation touted by some public officials is
feeding societal distrust and anger towards CDC regulations. What
is worse, too many Americans buy into this misinformation, result-
ing in a lack of consensus in scientific fact and an erosion of civility
in our national discourse. Can you please speak to how important
it is that State, local, and national leaders role model best practices
for public health and safety, and how essential that signaling is to
prevent folks from behaving in a reckless and aggressive manner?
Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you for that question, sir. I would agree to-
tally that there are mixed messages out there, and that is con-
fusing to the public, and at times, makes it very difficult for flight
attendants to do our jobs effectively, or challenged to do our job.
They leave from one State to another State, from one city to an-
other city, where they hear messages from leadership in their par-
ticular city or State. They come aboard an aircraft when we carry
passengers from State to State, city to city, and it is very confusing
and can be very frustrating at times and make our jobs much more
difficult. So, having clear messaging, scientific messaging that is
accurate would help all of us.
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Mr. JOHNSON OF GEORGIA. Thank you. I admire your profes-
sionalism as you maintained your cool while under attack. The bla-
tantly racist, sexist, and homophobic character of airplane rage is
alarming. Is there a need, sir, to elevate the safety concerns of
Black Americans and flight attendants of color? And, Ms. Nelson,
anger and violence are disproportionately targeted towards female
flight attendants, and we have heard that crewmembers are often-
times reticent to file charges against an assault. How can Congress
support crewmembers, especially women, so that they feel empow-
ered to file charges against assaults on flights.
And starting with you, please, Mr. Andrews.
Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you for that——
Mr. JOHNSON OF GEORGIA. In 30 seconds or less. Mr. Andrews.
Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you for that question. It is no mistake or
no unknown fact that flight attendants of color have been dispar-
aged on numerous occasions. And I think that there would be help-
ful and necessary steps to better those so that it is not happening
as frequently as it is.
Mr. JOHNSON OF GEORGIA. OK. Thank you.
Ms. Andrews [sic].
Ms. NELSON. Congressman Johnson, I believe you are referring
to me, Sara Nelson.
Mr. JOHNSON OF GEORGIA. I am sorry, Ms. Nelson.
Ms. NELSON. That is all right.
I think clarity about what we expect, absolute respect among
each other. I do want to note that all of the witnesses here today,
and all of the representatives across the industry have worked very
closely together. Unions, companies, airports, airlines, we have
worked closely together during this pandemic, and frankly, we have
fared better because of that. But when we had the backing from
the Federal Government about the actions that we were taking to
keep everyone safe, that made all of us safer, and it made it——
Mr. LARSEN. The gentleman’s time has expired. If you could wrap
it up.
Ms. NELSON. And it made it possible, actually, for flight attend-
ants to feel more empowered to report these events regardless of
the way that they have been dismissed or disposed of before based
on gender or love or their race.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you, Ms. Nelson.
The Chair recognizes Representative Katko of New York for 5
minutes.
Mr. KATKO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and thank you all for
being here. Prior to coming to Congress, I was a Federal organized
crime prosecutor for 20 years, and I have an immense amount of
respect for the rule of law. And what I am hearing today from both
sides is not so much a focus on that as it is trying to blame some-
one.
The bottom line is, the problem on airplanes is very troubling,
the problem on airplanes is very real. And it is not a Democratic
issue, it is not a Republican issue, it is not a political issue. I do
believe it is just a general disrespect for the rule of law that per-
meates many aspects of our society today. And unless we enforce
the rule of law, we are going to continue to have these types of
problems. So, I strongly urge my colleagues on the committee and
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my colleagues in Congress to help the airline industry enforce the
rules of law on this. And it is not about masks. It is not about indi-
vidual freedoms. It is not about arrogance. It is not about catching
someone with their mask off. It is about enforcing the rule of law
and enforcing it uniformly across the way.
When I first came into Congress, I spent a lot of time with TSA
as chairman of the subcommittee overseeing TSA. And now as
ranking member, the rule of law is an issue I take very seriously.
And one of the things I am concerned about with respect to airline
safety is something we have worked very hard on in Homeland Se-
curity, is what is going to be the impact of airline safety with the
new developments in Afghanistan and the potential for al-Qaida
and other nefarious groups there that want to do harm to the
United States? What impact does that have on the airline industry
again? And what concerns does that generate for you all, especially
when you look at it through the prism of this complete misbehavior
on airplanes and airlines today.
I have heard concerns directly from stakeholders in the aviation
community that facing these threats at the same time could
amount to a perfect storm, jeopardizing the safety of our aviation
workers and travelers as well as our national security.
So, with this in mind, I would like to hear from the panel about
how their organizations perceive these threats. And I am particu-
larly interested in how unruly passengers may have disrupted
basic security operations or required the diversion of resources,
more importantly, that are typically intended to address major sys-
temic threats, such as terrorist activities.
For example, I know that the air marshals have to spend an ex-
traordinary amount of time dealing with this misbehavior and
maybe, maybe, will miss at some point some signs they should
have seen of people that are really intending to do an awful lot of
harm to the American people in general. So, with that as an over-
view, I would like to ask Ms. Beyer, first, if you could give me your
thoughts on this?
Ms. BEYER. Sure. Thank you, Congressman. It is nice to see you.
Mr. KATKO. Nice to see you as well.
Ms. BEYER. So, I mean, the short answer is from a 10,000-foot
perspective, unfortunately, as an industry, we are used to facing a
number of different threats all at the same time. It doesn’t make
it any easier. We certainly have been extremely concerned, as I
voiced already, throughout this past year that these unruly pas-
senger incidents not only threaten the safety of everyone onboard
but, as has been noted, can be a distraction onboard the aircraft.
In terms of the threats, whether it is the evolving situation in
Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world, we are constantly eval-
uating how those threats are evolving in concert with the Govern-
ment partners so that we understand those direct or indirect
threats, and so that we can quickly respond with any additional
measures that may be necessary.
In addition to our coordination with the Government so that we
understand those threats, we also rely on our own independent re-
sources in all the places in which we operate around the world, so
that we have a good picture of all of the threats that we may be
faced with.
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Mr. KATKO. Thank you very much.
Anyone else want to weigh in on this issue? We have about 1
minute left.
Ms. NELSON. Congressman Katko, I want to thank you very
much for your partnership and your very clear focus on aviation se-
curity. You have been absolutely wonderful to work with. And you
are right to recognize that after 9/11, we put in place emergency
orders to keep all of us safe. And you are very right to recognize
also that these disturbances on the airplanes, and the number of
them are distracting us from the issue that we have been going to
work with for the past 20 years, recognizing that there is and will
continue to be a threat against commercial aviation, the worst of
which would be using our commercial jets, again, as weapons. We
need the secondary barriers installed, as you have supported, and
we need to focus on this.
But these distractions onboard do nothing to help us address
what Ms. Beyer was just referring to in the constant evolving na-
ture of the threats and addressing the fact that we have several
threats going on at the same time, having the best communication
to the crews to be able to address that and staying focused on it
and everyone able to do their job.
Mr. KATKO. Thank you, Mr. Chairman. I yield back.
Thank you, folks, for your testimony.
Mr. LARSEN. Thank you.
The Chair recognizes Ms. Holmes Norton of Washington, DC, for
5 minutes.
Ms. NORTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for this important hear-
ing.
My first question is to Ms. Nelson. It is not as if there has been
no recognition of the presence of unruly passengers, and yet, we
are having to hold this hearing this morning. I took note of the fact
that the FAA Administrator, Steve Dickson, had issued an order
enforcing, whatever that means, a zero-tolerance policy against vio-
lent or threatening passengers. So, I have to ask you: How consist-
ently is this zero-tolerance policy enforced? How is it enforced?
Ms. NELSON. Thank you, Congresswoman Holmes Norton. I ap-
preciate your support. And you, of course, were a part of working
with our union almost two decades ago to put in place penalties for
interfering with flightcrews, penalties, both in terms of jail time
and fines.
The FAA has in the past addressed these issues as they come,
sometimes issuing warnings to people. When FAA Administrator
Steve Dickson announced that there would be a zero-tolerance pol-
icy on January 13, he was recognizing that there was a new threat
here that we were just discussing with Mr. Katko, and that needed
to be clearly communicated that the FAA would not be offering any
warnings but would be taking action directly on any of these occur-
rences.
Now, we need to staff up. We need to have more time to deal
with that for the investigators who are dealing with it. So, on the
enforcement side, there is more that we could do to support the
FAA’s work in that, and we also need DOJ to take their role more
aggressively on enforcing the criminal prosecutions around that.
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But the zero-tolerance policy is one that says there will not be
a second chance. Every single report that is received, and they are
addressing this now in a priority order, it used to be first in, first
out, but they are taking it priority order so the severity of the case
first, that those are being addressed immediately, and there is no
consideration of a warning to those passengers. There will be ac-
tion taken once enough evidence is received to be able to take that
action.
Ms. NORTON. Is DOJ prosecuting?
Ms. NELSON. DOJ, to my knowledge, has only prosecuted one
case at this point. There are many cases that DOJ could take up,
and we need DOJ to take more aggressive action. And, as you
know, and as you have heard, alcohol has been a major contributor.
We believe that when people start to actually face jail time, there
is going to be a lot of sobering up around the country, and we will
not have these bad actors, who are a few among the millions who
travel every day, disrupting the safety and security of everyone
else.
Ms. NORTON. I would ask the chairman to indicate to the Depart-
ment of Justice that a deterrent policy is very much needed. If we
could ramp up prosecutions, I think it would have an effect.
Ms. NELSON. Very much.
Ms. NORTON. Ms. Beyer, I would be interested in knowing what
factors influence an airline’s decision to place an unruly passenger
on an internal no-fly list. Is that passenger notified? I would be
very interested in how one gets on that list. Ms. Beyer.
Ms. BEYER. Certainly, Congresswoman. So, the internal airline
no-fly lists were created as a mechanism for airlines to handle indi-
vidual cases of passengers pre-pandemic, and it has really just
come into the spotlight post-pandemic. Primarily, they have been
used as a mechanism to prevent further travel of that individual
for egregious mask violations, and certainly for unruly passengers.
Each airline has their own internal process once a report is re-
ceived from crewmembers for conducting their own investigations
to determine the details and specifics of that case, before making
a final determination that the criteria has been met to add them
to that list. And I know that a number of my member airlines have
publicly shared on numerous occasions how many individuals, un-
fortunately, have already been added to those lists just this year.
Ms. NORTON. Could I ask Mr. Bidwell? In your testimony, you in-
dicated——
Mr. LARSEN. The gentlewoman’s time has expired.
Ms. NORTON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. LARSEN. The Chair recognizes Representative Balderson of
Ohio for 5 minutes.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, and I thank every-
one here this morning, and all that you do in the airline industry
and making sure that we are all taken care of and all the people
across America. I really apologize for what has been going on and
what you are having to deal with.
I am going to kind of go in a little bit of a different direction,
though, and talk about some of the staffing and how that might
have been impacted. We know that staffing levels across the coun-
try, and the aviation industry itself has—have you all seen any
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changes in that, staffing levels? And that can be directed to Ms.
Beyer, but Ms. Nelson, and Mr. Andrews, you are more than wel-
come to comment on that also.
Ms. BEYER. Thank you, Congressman. I am happy to start. Cer-
tainly, I don’t need to tell this committee that the pandemic had
a huge impact on the airline industry and our staffing levels.
Again, we are extremely grateful for the multiple rounds of support
through the Payroll Support Program to ensure that we could keep
all of the employees who wanted to remain with our companies on
payroll and ready to serve the traveling public.
We have focused specifically on the unruly passenger issues
throughout this year to ensure that we have appropriate staffing.
This is one of the best practices that we have been talking about,
ensuring things like having additional supervisors, or airline secu-
rity personnel, who are available to respond to the gates when
there is an incident, and it is something that we continue to evalu-
ate.
Ms. NELSON. Mr. Balderson, I will just add to that to say that
we have two different issues of staffing. Of course, what you recog-
nize has happened during the pandemic which Ms. Beyer referred
to. We kept people in their jobs and connected to their certifications
and security credentials, but there was a lapse in funding from Oc-
tober 1 to the end of December.
And so, this summer, we saw some of the hangover of that be-
cause as you have people out of their jobs—and I should say it
wasn’t just the involuntary furloughs. It was also the voluntary re-
quests for furloughs that airlines across the industry requested.
Getting those people back into training and getting those certifi-
cations back in place takes time. And, in fact, we are almost just
now getting through getting everyone back on staff.
Separately, prior to the pandemic, staffing at the gates and on
the planes was cut down to minimum staffing, and so, we are still
at those minimum staffing levels, and it does make it very difficult.
I want to applaud this Congress for putting TSA on the general
schedule because as we know, some of those staffing problems are
about being able to attract people to the jobs. And so, increasing
that pay and addressing those benefits and those collective bar-
gaining agreements will make the jobs more attractive for people
to come to.
Finally, I would just note that the concessionaires had a very dif-
ficult time at the airports, and they are not all back up and run-
ning. We don’t have all the staff there. And one of the issues that
we have is very long lines at places where people are trying to get
food in the airport. Crews have a difficult time getting food. And
so, staffing up across the airport is an issue, and also reduces the
number of people with eyes and ears to be able to remind people
on those masks and do this in a deescalating, nonconfrontational
way so that we can have consistent messaging across the board.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you, Ms. Nelson. That was great.
Mr. Andrews, would you like to add anything?
Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you for that question, and thank you for
this opportunity. I, too, saw a very significant impact to us, and I
am thankful for the Payroll Support Program that did allow a lot
of our flight attendants to still keep our jobs. And the summer was
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very challenging. We have seen an uptick with a lot of flight at-
tendants being able to come back here at American Airlines. I
think we brought—the last set of flight attendants who were on
furlough are coming back in November and December, so that will
help to improve the shortage onboard the aircrafts as well.
Mr. BALDERSON. Thank you all very much, and Mr. Chairman,
I yield back my remaining time. Thank you.
Mr. KAHELE [presiding]. All right. Thank you.
The Chair would like to now recognize Mr. Stanton for 5 min-
utes.
Mr. STANTON. Thank you very much, Mr. Chair, and I want to
thank Chairman Larsen for holding this very important hearing. I
want to thank each of the witnesses for your outstanding testimony
today. Mr. Andrews, I just want to acknowledge you and say I am
so sorry about the incident of violence that you described earlier
that you were the victim of.
As someone who is fortunate to travel twice a week to my job in
Washington, DC, I am deeply concerned about the sharp increase
in the number of incidents of disruptive passengers reported by air-
line crews. Flight attendants, they are on the front lines in dealing
with the escalation and disruptive behavior from passengers, and
they need the tools and support at all levels, the Federal Govern-
ment, from airports, airlines, and others to deal with these chal-
lenges. Their primary job is the safety of passengers and crew; yet,
they are all too frequently finding themselves in difficult situations
every day working to deescalate situations, whether verbal or phys-
ical, that have the potential to impact safety.
Many of the incidents we have seen reported have been on
planes while in flight, but we are also witnessing disruptions with-
in our airports. In the past year, staff at Phoenix Sky Harbor Air-
port in my State and local police have responded to nearly 3,000
calls of customers being disruptive or assaulting employees or fel-
low passengers. This is a significant increase from the previous
year, and it is not uncommon for our local police to be called to
meet a flight with a passenger who has disrupted or interfered
with flightcrew.
My first question is for Mr. Andrews. In your written testimony,
you describe your experience as a flight attendant, and you de-
scribe many initiatives that you are advocating for, and I just want
to talk about a few of these potential initiatives. Quote, ‘‘No. 8—
increased police and security presence in airports, No. 9—increased
monitoring of passengers through the airport, TSA, and prior to
boarding, No. 10—consistent enforcement of the mask mandate
throughout the airport and security.’’ Can you describe what you
are witnessing in airports and what leads you to make these spe-
cific recommendations?
Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you for that question, sir. I am noticing on
a regular basis when I am traveling to and for to work that there
is minimal police presence. There is a shortage in TSA staffing that
is impacting how many people can get through or how people are
monitored. A shortage at gates, of gate agents that is impacting
whether or not we have the staffage to cover and monitor pas-
sengers as they are boarding the aircraft. Those are some of the
things that are leading to some of those suggestions.
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Mr. STANTON. Thank you so much.
Not only have we witnessed unruly passenger incidents and pas-
sengers ignoring the Federal mask mandate onboard aircraft, but
we have seen this kind of activity in the airports themselves. Pas-
sengers can be seen without their masks within airports, even
though individuals in airports are required by law to wear them.
This is my question for Mr. Bidwell. What role are airports cur-
rently playing in enforcing Federal and sometimes local mask man-
dates within airport terminals?
Mr. BIDWELL. Congressman Stanton, thanks very much for that
the question. Airports do their due diligence to enforce Federal se-
curity requirements, including the mask mandate. A key part of
enforcing the mask mandate is providing support to their airline
partners. In order to address incidents on the ground, some air-
ports have encouraged airline representatives to call airport law
enforcement at the first sign of a disturbance.
And I would also note that just to address something that was
mentioned previously, a majority of mask-related incidents do not
occur at the airports, and again, just reiterate our support for TSA
having increased the civil penalties for violations of the mask man-
date.
Mr. STANTON. Thank you. Obviously, this Congress has been
very supportive of the industry through the PSP. Thank you to the
leadership of President Nelson. We have all been very supportive
of the Nation’s airports, knowing how important it is for our econ-
omy, especially during and to get us out of the pandemic crisis.
But, Mr. Bidwell, what additional resources do you think airports
need now to ensure better enforcement of mask mandates?
Mr. BIDWELL. I think that there have been a number of things
that have been done that really assist in this regard. As I men-
tioned, TSA has increased the civil personalities. I think another
key component of that is for TSA to publicize the number of civil
penalty actions instituted against violators of the mask require-
ments, much like FAA does in publicizing the civil penalties im-
posed on unruly passengers.
Mr. STANTON. Looks likes I am out of time, so I have to yield
back. Thank you very much for those answers.
Mr. KAHELE. All right. Thank you.
The Chair would like to now recognize Mr. Fitzpatrick for 5 min-
utes.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Thank you. Thank you to all our panelists for
being with us today.
Ms. Nelson, thank you for being here. Thanks for the incredible
job you do representing the amazing people of the aviation indus-
try. And I wanted to just run—or ask two questions, Ms. Nelson.
Number one, focusing on the mental health and morale of flight
attendants, which obviously is very, very important—they have
been put under tremendous stress. They always have a stressful
job. It has been incredibly stressful for the past 11⁄2 to 2 years.
What can this committee, what can this Congress do to help in that
regard? Because oftentimes we are not asking the question, ‘‘What
can we be doing to help these amazing public servants?’’
Ms. NELSON. Congressman Fitzpatrick, thank you so much for
that and for recognizing what flight attendants have been through.
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And I can confirm that the mental health has been under strain,
for sure. Our calls to our EAP have been through the roof.
And so, what I would say to you is exactly what you have talked
about so clearly, and I just want to reflect, because we just went
through the 20th remembrance of September 11. And I just want
to remind people that we were trained completely wrong for that
day. We had the wrong information to be able to address that. But
we got information to the ground. Flight attendants did that. And
that got to the crew and passengers on flight 93. And the crew and
passengers on flight 93 could not be more of a rainbow of America
than you would see anywhere else—all gender, races, cultures and
creeds, Democrats, Republicans, and Independents.
But in a moment’s time, with urgency, they had new information,
and they took action together to try to save their own lives, defi-
nitely to save our own, very likely to save our United States Cap-
itol.
And so, what I would say is that what I have heard during this
hearing is exactly what the problem is going on the airplane, that
people have been led to believe that we are in conflict with each
other. But the truth is, this is a small number of people who are
acting out. The vast majority of people just want to follow the
rules. They want a safe, uneventful flight. They want to take care
of each other.
Americans love solidarity. We need messaging from leadership
that is consistent about what we are doing together to face this cri-
sis and how we can come together and support each other in this
moment.
And that is the single most important thing that we need, is
leadership from that level, from every level, from every corner of
our leadership, giving consistent messaging about how frontline
workers are supported, about how we all have to come together,
face this crisis, and do what needs to be done to put it behind us.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Thanks, Ms. Nelson. And you mentioned the
20th anniversary of 9/11. I think it had us all reflect and, quite
frankly, go back and read the stories that many of us haven’t
reread since that awful day. And hearing the heroism of so many
of the flight attendants who were on the phone, who had access to
the phone, who were rallying passengers on a plane. And it was a
flight attendant that called the vote on flight 93. Isn’t that amazing
that, at that dire moment, the first thing that Americans thought
to do was to take a vote. And we all know how they voted and what
the outcome was.
Speaking of 9/11, Ms. Nelson, if you could just touch upon H.R.
911, a bill that you obviously know I am very, very invested in, sec-
ondary barriers. It has been inconsistently applied with regard to
new aircraft. It is not even being put in all new aircraft. And cer-
tainly, we haven’t even dealt with the retrofitting issue yet.
Could you just touch upon that on behalf of the people you rep-
resent?
Ms. NELSON. Sure. Absolutely. First of all, this committee and
Congress took nearly unanimous action in 2018 before this latest
crisis to say that all new aircraft need to have that secondary bar-
rier installed. This is a recommendation from right after September
11th from the Commission, and it has not been done yet, not even
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55
with the new aircraft coming on the line, not to mention retro-
fitting.
But this is an issue that was identified 20 years ago, to make
sure that our aircraft cannot be used as weapons against us. You
have already done the work, at least for the new aircraft. It just
needs to be implemented. It needs to be implemented yesterday,
and we need to take additional steps to pass legislation to make
sure that this is put onto all of our aircraft, because this is an area
of vulnerability.
I would only add with that, that the secondary barriers and
crewmember self-defense training were both recommendations that
were supposed to be implemented and really should be, because
this is an area where we have a hole in our security right now. And
thank you so much for your leadership on this.
Mr. FITZPATRICK. Thank you. I yield back, Mr. Chairman.
Mr. KAHELE. Thank you.
The Chair would like to now recognize Ms. Johnson from Texas.
Ms. JOHNSON OF TEXAS. Thank you very much, Mr. Chairman.
I must admit that I have had to dip in and out of this meeting for
another one, but I want to express my appreciation for this very
important hearing and for the witnesses to be present.
I would like to ask unanimous consent to put my opening re-
marks in the record so I won’t have to read them.
[Pause.]
Oh, well, just yesterday, in fact, my hometown newspaper, the
Dallas Morning News, an article entitled, ‘‘Go inside a flight at-
tendant self-defense class as threats of violence fill the air,’’ de-
scribed how Federal air marshals are teaching flight attendants to
defend themselves against belligerent passengers, generally in re-
sponse to the resistance to wear a mask.
Now, I represent an area where the Dallas-Ft. Worth TSA office
is, which encompasses the nearby headquarters of American Air-
lines and Southwest Airlines, both are very large carriers from my
district.
And I hope this question has not been asked, but I would like
to point it to Ms. Nelson, but I would like to hear any other com-
ments from other witnesses.
Your testimony makes multiple references to the lack of assault
investigations and that serious punishment for the offenders, even
though stipulated by Federal law, is rarely carried out by the De-
partment of Justice. What do you think can be done to rectify this,
and is there anything that this committee can do?
Ms. NELSON. Thank you so much, Congresswoman Johnson.
Mr. KAHELE. Hold on 1 second, Ms. Nelson.
Ms. Johnson, can you please turn your video on, if you can,
please, your video monitor?
Ms. JOHNSON OF TEXAS. Yes.
Mr. KAHELE. All right. Go ahead, Ms. Nelson.
Ms. JOHNSON OF TEXAS. Here I am in person.
Mr. KAHELE. Thank you.
Ms. NELSON. Lovely to see you, and it was great to see you at
Dallas Airport last month. So, thank you for the question.
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We already have statute. DOJ already has authority under the
law to prosecute, and we do need encouragement from this Con-
gress to encourage DOJ to take those actions.
To my knowledge, so far, they have only taken up one case of
these incidents that have occurred since the beginning of 2021. So,
we need a greater attention on that, and there is—representatives
from across the industry have signed a letter long ago asking for
DOJ to take that action.
So, all of us have made it very clear that we believe that we need
to make it clear to the public about the seriousness of this, of these
disruptions in the air, and how it can have such a dramatic impact
on safety and security of our air travel.
And we all know that when safety and security is in question,
people don’t buy tickets, because they want to take that for grant-
ed. So, it is our economic security at stake as well.
Ms. JOHNSON OF TEXAS. Thank you very much.
Any other witness like to comment on that?
Ms. BEYER. Yes, Congresswoman. I would just simply add, you
know, echo Ms. Nelson’s sentiments there. We have all worked to-
gether on this specific issue.
And in response to your question about what more the committee
could do, we would very much encourage you to speak with the De-
partment of Justice and urge them to direct Federal prosecutors to
dedicate their resources to handle these cases.
Ms. JOHNSON OF TEXAS. Thank you.
Any other comments?
Mr. BIDWELL. Congresswoman, I would just like to add, I support
the comments of my colleagues. But in addition, just to reiterate,
it is important for crewmembers to stay around and provide state-
ments to airport law enforcement and press charges so unruly pas-
sengers can be criminally prosecuted.
Ms. JOHNSON OF TEXAS. Thank you very much.
Mr. Andrews, did you want to chime in?
Mr. ANDREWS. Yes, Ms. Johnson. Thank you so much for that
question. I echo the sentiments of my colleagues, and one other
thing would just be so vitally important for that information, if
there is prosecution, if there is something done, for that informa-
tion to be conveyed back to the flight attendant. That would en-
courage them to report in the future.
Ms. JOHNSON OF TEXAS. Well, thank you very much.
And I will yield back the last 30 seconds of my time, Mr. Chair-
man. Thank you.
Mr. KAHELE. All right, thank you.
The Chair would like to now recognize Mr. Stauber for 5 min-
utes.
Mr. STAUBER. Thank you, Mr. Chair.
First off, I would like to thank you all for stepping up over the
last 11⁄2 years, especially in the early days of COVID, the early
days of the COVID shutdowns.
I flew several times during the early months of the pandemic,
and the front-facing workforce each of you represent were always
positive and professional, despite mass layoffs and suspensions due
to an industry that had effectively been put on pause.
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As many of you likely know, I have a son. My wife and I are
blessed with a son who has Down syndrome. My family under-
stands the difficulties that those with disabilities and their families
encounter when traveling.
We have seen these episodes play out time and time again on
airplanes where families with autistic kids as young as 2 are boot-
ed off airplanes because their son or daughter has difficulty keep-
ing their mask on.
These are heartbreaking scenes that are objectively unfair to the
families who are, in good faith, just trying to get to from point A
to point B, and it is unfair to the flight attendants and the staff
who have been forced to enforce these rigid mandates.
As you all are also likely aware, the Department of Transpor-
tation has put forth a rule for mask exemptions for those with dis-
abilities, and it states, in quotes, ‘‘The following narrow subset of
persons with disabilities are exempt from CDC’s requirement to
wear a mask:
‘‘A person with a disability who, for reasons related to the dis-
ability, would be physically unable to remove a mask without as-
sistance if breathing becomes obstructed. Examples might include
a person with impaired motor skills, a quadriplegic, or limb restric-
tions.
‘‘A person with intellectual, developmental, cognitive, or psy-
chiatric disability that affects the person’s ability to understand the
need to remove a mask if breathing becomes obstructed.’’
The question is for Teddy or Sara. I don’t think that Americans
with disabilities are really aware of these exemptions, and I know
that many of them feel discriminated against right now. What is
the protocol that a flight attendant currently goes through when
dealing with a passenger who has an exemption?
Ms. NELSON. Mr. Chairman, let me start, and I think Teddy will
have a lot to add as well.
First of all, let me just say that it is very difficult for flight at-
tendants, at minimum staffing with our aircraft full, to be able to
identify problems or issues as people are coming on the plane.
It is very important that the airlines are making it very clear at
the point of ticket sale for anyone who needs to provide information
to the airline ahead of time about these challenges. This does al-
ready exist. It is already in the ticketing process. It could probably
be more clear.
When we have that information, that information is commu-
nicated to the crews ahead of the flight. We are given seat num-
bers, we are given information about that situation. And when we
have that, we are much better prepared to face that. I will tell you
that——
Mr. STAUBER. So let me just ask you, let me just—I just want
to follow up on that. So, if they didn’t in advance notify the airline,
if they are boarding and you clearly see that, and the guardian or
parent notifies you at that moment, then can you make the deci-
sion and follow the same protocols as if they had let the airlines
know? Can you at that moment, if a mom and dad or guardian
says, ‘‘Sara, this is our child, he is autistic, and he has trouble
wearing a mask.’’ At that point, then you can make the decision
and let the other flight attendants know?
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Ms. NELSON. That depends. OK? And so, in most cases, yes,
flight attendants are going to be able to take that information,
share it with the rest of the crew, and be able to address that.
We have had some situations where people have purposely tried
to avoid this. So normally what we would do is we would notify the
ground supervisor and try to get help to that family, prior to the
flight taking off, so that they can provide the proper documentation
to the airline, and that can be properly done so that we are advised
that we should follow those protocols.
But I will tell you that flight attendants have an incredible abil-
ity to have very intuitive nature of how to address these issues and
can assess these things, and we will take action sometimes on our
own under that authority.
That is not the procedure, though. So, it is better that we have
that confirmation from the airline so that we know that we are
fully backed up by the airline when we are taking that action.
Mr. STAUBER. Well, I appreciate the answer. And I will just say
that there are times maybe you don’t know if there is somebody au-
tistic or what have you, but it is difficult. And I want to again
thank you and all the flight attendants for the professionalism dur-
ing this difficult time and to enforce mandates that were forced
upon your industry and your profession.
So, with that, Mr. Chair, I see my time is out, so I will yield
back. Thank you.
Mr. KAHELE. All right, thank you.
The Chair would like to now recognize Mr. Payne for 5 minutes.
Mr. PAYNE. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
It is a pleasure to be here today on a committee hearing that is
so vitally important to the American people and people that work
in the aviation industry.
There is no question that the FAA should institute more policies
to better protect flightcrews during this unprecedented rise in air
rage incidents.
Beyond additional signs and verbal warnings about con-
sequences, how best can the FAA help protect all flightcrews if inci-
dents like these are continuing, Ms. Nelson?
Ms. NELSON. Thank you very much for that question. First of all,
I do want to applaud the FAA for the seriousness that they have
given this and their efforts to try to communicate to the public
what the rules are, why they are in place, and what will happen
if people break them. The FAA has been extraordinary on this, and
I applaud FAA Administrator Steve Dickson for his leadership on
it.
What could happen, though, is that we hear from the FAA safety
inspectors that they do not have enough inspectors or enough time
to conduct these investigations in some cases. So, because of the
zero-tolerance policy, it used to be that the FAA inspectors would
be inspecting events on a first-in/first-out basis.
They now have the ability to prioritize these issues based on the
severity of the case. But if they get down to a 6-month timeout,
there is a statute of limitation on the case of 6 months, so if they
don’t get to the case by that time because they simply don’t have
enough resources to address it, the case falls away completely.
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So, they suggest that there should be an extension of that time,
and, of course, if we could get more resources to the FAA to be able
to conduct these investigations, that would better support us as
well.
Mr. PAYNE. Thank you.
And, Mr. Andrews, let me commend you for your professionalism,
preserving your job through the vile, racist incident you recall in
your testimony and your personal fight against COVID–19.
I would like to discuss the secondary barriers under the FAA Re-
authorization Act of 2018. The FAA is required to issue a rule re-
quiring installation of barriers that would protect the cockpit even
when it is open. Unfortunately, the FAA has not fulfilled this legal
requirement.
How would these barriers further protect the safety of the
flightcrew and passengers from unruly passengers?
Mr. ANDREWS. Thank you for that question. I think any steps
that we can take, especially that second barrier, would help with
protecting flightcrew, passengers onboard. Having personally, my
family experienced the death of my cousin in 9/11, definitely would
make it more secure, make sure that we have additional steps in
place to ensure the safety of all passengers and flightcrew. So, I
think it is vitally important to have.
Mr. PAYNE. Thank you.
And let me just say to Ms. Nelson and Mr. Andrews that the gen-
tleman from Pennsylvania made good points on the second barrier,
Mr. Fitzpatrick. And I am going to reach out to him to see how we
can work together to finally get this implemented. And I make that
promise to you. I will start working on that today.
Ms. NELSON. Thank you.
Mr. PAYNE. Ms. Beyer, can you assure this committee that your
member airlines will be cooperative should the FAA take additional
actions to protect flightcrew and passengers?
Ms. BEYER. Yes, sir. We certainly always comply with any law
or Federal requirement that we have been asked to implement.
Mr. PAYNE. OK. Well, thank you for that concise answer.
And, with that, Mr. Chairman, I will yield back.
Mr. KAHELE. All right. Thank you.
The Chair would now like to recognize Mr. Lynch for 5 minutes.
[Pause.]
If not, we will move on to Mr. Allred for 5 minutes.
[Pause.]
OK. Moving on to Mr. Garcı́a for 5 minutes.
Mr. GARCÍA OF ILLINOIS. Thank you, Mr. Chairman, for accom-
modating me at today’s committee hearing and for allowing me to
ask these questions.
As a frequent air traveler and a former union member, I want
to thank the flight attendants, pilots, ground crews, and the avia-
tion units for the work that they do every day, keeping our aviation
system running and safely getting millions of Americans to their
destinations.
I am deeply concerned with the large increases in air rage and
assaults on flight attendants and other aviation workers since the
pandemic started. Every person deserves a safe, harassment-free
workplace.
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I want to thank the witnesses for appearing today and their en-
lightening testimony. I look forward to working with them and the
committee to address this important issue.
I have questions that I would like to ask of Ms. Nelson and Mr.
Andrews. I would like to follow up on a question posed by Con-
gressman Hank Johnson.
What more needs to be done to specifically make sure that flight
attendants of color, who may be disproportionately facing more air
rage and other discrimination, are safe in working environments?
Ms. NELSON. Teddy, would you like to start?
OK. So let me just start here.
What happens in our communities comes to our aircraft, and the
more that we can do to lift up people of color, to make sure that
there is a place at the table, to make sure that there is a recogni-
tion of the struggles that people are facing simply because of the
color of their skin.
I will tell you that as we were going to work in the wake of the
George Floyd murder, that there were many flight attendants who
were concerned about even traveling to work, and they were con-
cerned about that before they even got there.
And then when they get to work, they are facing incredible dis-
crimination that none of us can imagine if you haven’t faced it be-
fore. Some of the airlines are doing a very good job of having town-
halls lifting us up.
I would say, actually, I have been recently made aware of the ac-
tions of American Airlines to hold these townhalls to make it very
specific that the airline is focused wholeheartedly on addressing
the issues of diversity and inclusion, of giving the opportunity for
people of color to tell their stories at the airline about what they
face and have other people hear that and hear the difficulties, the
microaggressions that they face at work.
And when they have the backing of everyone at the airline and
know that those issues are going to be taken seriously, they are
more likely to report, there is more likely to be followup action, and
other people are more likely to understand that when you are dis-
respecting someone because of their gender or their race or because
of the way that they identify, that that is unacceptable, and there
is a zero-tolerance approach from the airline to addressing that.
That needs to be taken as seriously as any other violation at the
airline. And so, I would lift up what American has been doing. I
would say I have seen it at other airlines too. They all have diver-
sity and inclusion programs, but more could be done to have these
public conversations about what people of color are facing at work.
Mr. GARCÍA OF ILLINOIS. Thank you.
Mr. ANDREWS. I too thank you for that question, Representative
Garcı́a. I think I would echo wholeheartedly what my colleague,
Ms. Nelson, just said.
The airline has taken specifically—excuse me—American Air-
lines has taken steps towards making sure that there is diversity,
equity, and inclusion conversations happening. And the APFA has
just instituted a diversity, equity, and inclusion team, which I am
now chairing.
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So, we are having conversations, and those conversations are
happening. Should there be more conversations? Yes. Clear expec-
tations on behaviors and some possible consequences for those.
So, we are talking about air rage, air rage that knows no color,
right? It doesn’t discriminate. But, unfortunately, there are cases
where race and other disparaging remarks or comments are being
made towards flight attendants of color and—just conversations,
more conversations, and more dialogue between the airline and all
of our counterparts would help.
Mr. GARCÍA OF ILLINOIS. Thank so much. My time has just about
run out, so I am going to yield back to the chair. Thank you.
Mr. KAHELE. Mahalo, Mr. Garcı́a.
The Chair would like to now recognize Mr. Allred of Texas for
5 minutes.
Mr. ALLRED. Sure. Thank you, Mr. Chairman.
I first wanted to ask about jurisdictional issues. I have heard
from some flight attendants that I have spoken to that there is con-
cern and issues on the ground regarding whose jurisdiction it is
when something happens and seeing how jurisdictional issues can
play out in other contexts.
I am wondering, who is ultimately responsible when an event oc-
curs in the air and you get to your location, which jurisdiction is
responsible? And does there need to be an adjustment to policy to
make sure that there is no gap in terms of who is going to respond
to it?
Ms. Nelson, I see you nodding. If you want to jump, go first, and
if anyone else wants to add, I would be happy to discuss that.
Ms. NELSON. Thank you very much. So, Congressman Allred, the
jurisdiction on the plane is the FBI. It is Federal jurisdiction, but,
oftentimes, there is not an FBI agent at an airport to be able to
respond. Some of the larger hubs, there is, and when we get that
communication to the agency, they can respond directly to the
flight and get the statements from everyone right there. And that
is the best-case scenario for dealing with these issues.
Most of the time, when the aircraft arrives—think about the
chain of communication. So the flight attendants communicate to
the flight deck; the flight deck communicates to the ground con-
troller; the ground controller oftentimes will communicate to a
ground security coordinator, who will then have to communicate to
law enforcement.
If there is a break in that chain and you either slow down the
communication or it doesn’t go through, sometimes you don’t have
anyone respond at all.
When local law enforcement responds, what they are doing is
they are taking statements and sometimes taking people into cus-
tody. But there is inconsistency there because, at some airports, it
is a security company that is providing the security, and in other
cases, there is local law enforcement. So, there are inconsistencies
at each airport because of this.
It would be much better if there were a clear set of standards
that the airlines and the airports would be following that then gets
those reports. When those reports go to the FAA, that can then be
coordinated with FBI for followup action, even if FBI is not there
to meet the flight.
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Mr. ALLRED. That is really good. So, do you think that the FAA
is within their purview to make that [inaudible] do you think we,
in Congress, need to give them additional authority?
Ms. NELSON. So, the FAA would need additional authority to ac-
tually oversee that. What I will say is that I know the FAA Admin-
istrator has started a dialogue with local law enforcement across
the country about how we can create better protocols. And that dia-
logue, even in and of itself, is very, very helpful for us to set up
protocols that are better to respond.
I will tell you that when I saw the images after January 6, and
there were sort of mobs of people acting out in the airport, and you
saw that law enforcement, all they could do was protect the people
who were being attacked, that was a very different scene than we
have seen in the past. It used to be that there would be one bad
actor that law enforcement could go there and address that di-
rectly. That person would be hauled away.
So, we have a new set of conditions here where we need to make
sure that we have better communications and that we are properly
resourced at the airports to be able to respond.
Mr. ALLRED. Well, thank you for that, Ms. Nelson. You men-
tioned the 6th. I know there has been some discussion of the cre-
ation of a no-fly list for domestic terrorism. And I just wonder what
your view of proper use of a no-fly list might be, obviously taking
into account the need to protect civil liberties and some kind of
need for that to be a fair system in which it wouldn’t be a perma-
nent mark on people’s records and things like that.
Ms. NELSON. So, the no-fly list is very specific to the FBI no-fly
list, and this is about terrorism. So, first and foremost, we need to
call it something else very likely. We need to have a process that
is very clear, that is an incident review process with the airlines,
possibly the airports, and law enforcement, where we are reviewing
whether or not someone should be put on a flyer ‘‘banned list,’’ and
call it something like that, and then a process for how someone
might be able to get off of that list as well.
And so, thinking through those procedures needs to be done.
There has already been some work underway at many of the of-
fices. We appreciate that. But we need to speed this up and figure
out how we can make this work so that we are addressing, yes, as
you said, the issues of civil liberties, that there is actually a due
process for this, for getting on this list, and then a means at some
point to have a process to appeal to get off the list.
Mr. ALLRED. Well, thank you. I appreciate you all’s testimony.
You have helped us identify, I think, some gaps in what we can do.
And I just want to say thank you for your service to the country
during a time when many of you were still flying at the very begin-
ning of the pandemic when you weren’t even allowed to wear
masks at times, and you had to protect yourselves in any way you
could. I know it has been an extremely difficult time.
I and the members of this committee are committed to protecting
you, supporting you. We appreciate the role you play in our econ-
omy. And as someone who represents one of the bigger airports in
the country and a couple of the largest airlines in the country, we
appreciate everything you do.
So, with that, I will yield back.
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Ms. NELSON. Thank you, Congressman Allred.
Mr. KAHELE. Mahalo, Congressman Allred.
The chair, I guess, will now yield to himself, since I look like to
be the last person here. And one of those opportunities of being last
is that you’ve had the chance to hear all the questions, and there
has been a lot of great questions that have been asked.
As someone who was born into the airline industry—my mom
was a 35-year flight attendant with United Airlines—and who mar-
ried into the airline industry: my wife is a flight attendant with
Hawaiian Airlines—and who also is a pilot for Hawaiian—I want
to thank our flightcrews, our gate agents, our ground crews, who
have really been on the front lines dealing with unruly passenger
behavior, in many cases, dangerous and violent acts of aggression.
And I also want to emphasize that passengers and individuals
that assault, threaten, intimidate, interfere with airline crew-
members, that the FAA and the Department of Justice need to con-
duct swift but thorough enforcement investigations. They need to
impose at least civil penalties against those passengers. And if
those civil penalties are not deterring, really, criminal activity by
these airline passengers, that the Department of Justice needs to
look at how these individuals can be criminally prosecuted. And so
that is something that I hope the FAA and the DOJ will do.
In regard to masks, we all want to stop having to wear masks
on airlines when we fly, but we do know that masks, in combina-
tion with vaccinations, are the most effective tool to stopping the
spread of COVID–19.
Air travel is one of the most controlled indoor spaces and modes
of transportation, and so the current guidance where we need to
wear masks through early January 2022, I think is a good thing.
With the Delta variant, with the upcoming flu season, keeping our-
selves protected is really important.
My first question was going to be directed to Ms. Beyer and Air-
lines for America, and that is in regard to, in the early part of the
pandemic, airlines took the step to change seating arrangements in
the airlines, to space people apart farther.
Can you speak to or answer, in terms of the airlines that you
represent, have all the airlines gone back to booking at full capac-
ity and are no longer blocking seats to maintain that social dis-
tance between passengers?
Ms. BEYER. Thank you for the question, Congressman. And
thank you for recognizing the work that we have all done as an in-
dustry throughout this pandemic, a really unprecedented, it goes
without saying, time to evaluate what we knew about this public
health emergency.
And really, I think the airlines have leaned into science since the
beginning to determine what measures need to be put in place to
keep all of our employees and the traveling public safe throughout
the pandemic.
In terms of seating, as we have all done throughout this pan-
demic, we have learned more and more about this specific virus
and about the variants that have emerged. And so, our policies, as
the airline industry, have been adjusted along the way as we
learned more about the virus itself.
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64
Specifically on the seating, one of the things that we have done
is worked with Harvard School of Public Health to evaluate the
risk of transmission in air travel. And one of the things that they
determined is that, in the air filtration, 2 to 3 minutes the air is
cycled out with HEPA filters onboard, the mask-wearing, all of the
other measures, that you are safer onboard an aircraft than you
are in many other routine daily activities.
And as a result of that science and studies from many other rep-
utable sources, that is when the decisions were made for those who
had adjusted seat policies that it was safe to resume a full aircraft.
Mr. KAHELE. OK. Thank you.
Next question is for Ms. Nelson. In your testimony, you wrote,
‘‘Over the past few months, CWA ground service members across
the country have experienced serious incidents of physical and
verbal assault and harassment, with few repercussions for the of-
fending passenger imposed by law enforcement.
‘‘By failing to follow the law and seek justice for the victims of
assaults like these, a message is being clearly communicated that
the safety of airport workers is not a priority. Ground service mem-
bers are the last line of security before these agents have the op-
portunity to board the aircraft and disrupt service.’’
So, my question would be, what do you believe are the next steps
we can take to protect our ground service members?
Ms. NELSON. Thank you, Congressman Kahele. Let’s be very
clear. This is extremely important that we protect the ground serv-
ice members because, as you said, they are the last chance to keep
problems on the ground. And when there is no followup, when they
are physically assaulted, what do you think there is going to be
their response?
In many cases, there is a single agent at the gate who is dealing
with all of the passengers. And when you are under threat, what
you want to do is to get away from the threat. What that does is
it potentially puts a situation where there is a desire to actually
put that passenger on the plane, to get them away.
So, these are some of the consequences that can happen if we
don’t take these acts seriously.
There have been gate agents who have been punched in the face
repeatedly and no action has been taken. Law enforcement doesn’t
come fast enough, and the prosecution has not happened. There are
at least three cases that are noted in my testimony that I would
direct the Department of Justice to immediately, that are very
clear, well-documented cases of assault against these gate agents.
There needs to be criminal action right away because, otherwise,
we are sending the message to these workers that they are on their
own, and the decisions that they make then, that they will be
forced to make for their own safety, may not be good for the safety
of all of aviation. That is the consequence that we face if we don’t
back them up.
Mr. KAHELE. OK. Thank you for that answer.
Last question I have, I guess it can be directed to both Ms. Beyer
and Mr. Bidwell. But you had mentioned—or we had mentioned
through this conversation that sometimes airline crewmembers—
and it could also be gate agents—are reluctant to stay around to
press charges even when they have been assaulted.
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And I kind of would like to know what are the reasons for this,
and is there a way that we can either incentivize or do something
to support those airline crewmembers so those cases can be cap-
tured and the investigation can proceed forward?
And I guess we can start with Ms. Beyer.
Ms. BEYER. Yes, sir. So, first off, I will say right upfront that our
airlines are doing everything possible to better prevent and re-
spond to these incidents, and that includes having regular dialogue
with their employee groups, including the gate agents, including
the flight attendants, including the pilots.
We take this extremely seriously, and we want to make sure that
our employees feel supported to be able to report these incidents,
and that we as their airline are going to take them seriously, are
supporting them, and are doing everything in our power to address
the issue.
Mr. KAHELE. Mr. Bidwell?
Mr. BIDWELL. Thank you. Thank you very much for the question.
So, in accordance with TSA regulations, airport operators provide
law enforcement officers with arrest authority in the number and
manner adequate to support their federally approved security pro-
grams.
And I would note, the challenge is not the number of law enforce-
ment officers available; it is one of jurisdiction or, rather, the lack
thereof. Indeed, airport law enforcement responds when called, but
can only enforce State and local law.
In order to pursue cases, they need crewmembers to stick
around, they need them to provide statements, whether those are
processed locally or then referred on to Federal Government, in-
cluding the FBI.
Mr. KAHELE. I thank you for that.
Ms. NELSON. Congressman Kahele?
Mr. KAHELE. Yes, go ahead.
Ms. NELSON. We really need from the airlines a clear commu-
nication to the pilots, to the flight attendants, to the gate agents,
that when these incidents occur, their first priority is to stay, write
the report, report the incident, and make sure that the local law
enforcement has all that they need.
So, I agree that the airlines have tried very hard to be supportive
of crews in these events, but that clear communication to the crews
that this is their first order of business after these incidents has
not been made, and can be made more clear, and those procedures
can be communicated more clearly to all of the crews and the
agents at the gate.
Mr. KAHELE. Ms. Beyer, in response to Ms. Nelson’s comments,
what do the airlines do in terms of when a crewmember, if it is in
flight and they send a message to the station manager that they
are flying into, what do the airlines do to make sure that there are
representatives of the airlines, station managers, others that meet
the crew at the aircraft and are able to capture those statements
from the flight attendant or pilot, to work together with local law
enforcement agencies and take a proactive role to support those
crewmembers?
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When they do land at their locations, they have been working for
a long time, they are tired, and they, at that point, just want to
go home. And in many cases, these assaults go unreported.
Ms. BEYER. So, certainly, if the crew reports that there is an in-
flight incident and they are requesting that law enforcement re-
spond to the aircraft upon landing, then the airline employees on
the ground will forward that request to the local law enforcement
and request that support.
I did want to come back to something I noted in my testimony,
which is this larger sort of cross-industry, best practices effort that
we are undertaking at this moment. I think that the many com-
ments that have been made by my fellow panelists today are evi-
dence that one of the ways that we can continue to improve is by
enhancing the collaboration, not just within airlines, not just with-
in airports, et cetera, but across all of the aviation sectors.
And our hope is that this effort, bringing in all parties who have
a responsibility, that we can identify what some best practices may
be by certain entities, that perhaps can be enhanced by others. And
we are committed to doing that.
Mr. KAHELE. OK. Thank you.
All right. Seeing no further testifiers, I want to conclude our
hearing today, and thank each of the witnesses for your testimony
today. Your comments have been very informative and helpful.
And I would like to ask for unanimous consent that the record
of today’s hearing remain open until such time as our witnesses
have provided answers to any questions that may be submitted to
them in writing.
I also ask unanimous consent that the record remain open for 15
days for any additional comments and information submitted by
Members or witnesses’ responses to be included in the record of to-
day’s hearing.
Without objection, so ordered.
And, with that, our subcommittee stands adjourned. Mahalo.
[Whereupon, at 12:46 p.m., the subcommittee was adjourned.]
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SUBMISSIONS FOR THE RECORD
Prepared Statement of Hon. Sam Graves, a Representative in Congress
from the State of Missouri, and Ranking Member, Committee on Trans-
portation and Infrastructure
Thank you, Chair Larsen and Ranking Member Graves, and thank you to our wit-
nesses for being here today.
Given that most Members fly on a near weekly basis, we should all be concerned
with the increase in unruly passenger incidents.
According to the FAA, it has received almost 4,200 reports of unruly passenger
behavior since the beginning of the year, with 75 percent of the incidents related
to mask noncompliance.
This type of behavior is unacceptable.
However, I think it is very important for people to understand that millions of
people have flown on U.S. airlines so far this year and the vast majority of those
flights have occurred without incident.
When these rare occurrences do take place, the two Federal agencies charged with
addressing unruly passenger behavior are the Federal Aviation Administration
(FAA) and the Transportation Security Administration (TSA).
Unfortunately, neither agency is in attendance today.
While I am disappointed that Members will not be given the opportunity to hear
from the two Federal agencies charged with setting airline security procedures and
training requirements related to unruly passengers, as well as enforcing those poli-
cies and procedures, I am very interested in the testimony of the other witnesses
here today.
It goes without saying, aviation safety is the top priority for this subcommittee.
That includes both the safety of air travelers, and the safety of the airline per-
sonnel.
I again want to thank Chair Larsen, Ranking Member Graves, and the witnesses,
and I yield back.
f
Prepared Statement of Hon. Eddie Bernice Johnson, a Representative in
Congress from the State of Texas
Thank you, Chairman DeFazio, Aviation Subcommittee Chairman Larsen, and
Ranking Member Graves for holding today’s hearing. I also want to thank our wit-
nesses for your testimony and participation.
The disturbing instances of air and airport passenger rage are well documented.
Our nation has witnessed a sharp increase in confrontational behavior in recent
years, particularly since the onset of the COVID–19 pandemic.
Just yesterday in fact in my hometown newspaper, the Dallas Morning News, an
article entitled ‘‘Inside a flight attendant self-defense class as threats of violence fill
the air’’ described how federal air marshals are teaching flight attendants to defend
themselves against belligerent passengers, generally in response to resistance to
wearing a face mask.
The Dallas-Ft. Worth TSA office, which encompasses the nearby headquarters for
American Airlines and Southwest Air, is one of the largest training centers in the
country.
Sadly, there is a critical need for this type of training, given that this year so far,
the FAA has received over 4,000 reports of unruly passengers. Moreover, according
to the articulate testimony provided by AFA President, Ms. Sara Nelson, 85 percent
of flight attendants have dealt with unruly passengers and nearly 1 in 5 report that
the incidents involved a physical assault.
I am also concerned about the more generalized, adverse effects this tension has
caused the airline industry and the traveling public. Although there are many rea-
(67)
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68
sons for the difficulties major airlines are facing in recruiting employees, being out-
right fearful of going to work is a strong disincentive for anyone working in or con-
sidering employment in the airline industry at this time.
f
Statement of Donielle Prophete, Ground Service Agent, Piedmont Airlines,
and President, Communications Workers of America Local 3645, Sub-
mitted for the Record by Hon. Peter A. DeFazio
Chairman DeFazio, Chairman Larsen, Ranking Member Graves and Ranking
Member Graves and members of the committee, I am grateful for the opportunity
to submit this testimony for the record.
My name is Donielle Prophete. I have worked as a ground service agent for Pied-
mont Airlines for 17 years and have been the President of the Communications
Workers of America Local 3645 since 2020. I represent passenger service agents
across the Southeast states working for a regional subsidiary of American Airlines,
Piedmont Airlines. My hope is that this testimony can help members of the Com-
mittee and the broader public to better understand the challenges that frontline air-
line employees are facing during one of the most challenging periods in the history
of the airline industry.
The COVID–19 pandemic has made clear that the frontline gate and ramp agents
that I represent are key to keeping the industry operating safely and efficiently. Our
responsibilities include boarding passengers onto airplanes in a safe and orderly
manner, loading and unloading luggage from the aircraft and assisting passengers
with reservations. We perform these duties on a daily basis even while our stations
are severely understaffed, while we suffer from fatigue and stress from excessive
mandatory overtime and while working through a global pandemic that has taken
the lives of 650,000 Americans, including two agents at the Charlotte Douglas Inter-
national Airport in just the past month.
Our agents are the face of the airline’s operations at the airport. We work to keep
passengers safe during the ongoing pandemic by enforcing federal mask mandates.
We work to mitigate the impacts of snags in the operation due to flight delays, can-
cellations or other irregularities from COVID–19. This means that, even as we keep
the entire industry moving, we have become targets of passengers’ frustrations and
anger.
Since January 1, 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) has recorded
4,284 incidents of verbal and physical assaults against flight crew members and
gate agents. Mask related incidents accounted for 3,123 of recorded cases. This is
a substantial increase from the 146 incidents reported to the FAA in 2019 and 183
reported in 2020.1 These are staggering numbers, but they don’t tell the full story
on the physical and emotional impact incidents like these have had on my members.
In particular, one of the most egregious incidents of passenger rage this summer
at the Charlotte Airport highlights the challenge faced by my members and the need
for a more coordinated and committed response from local and federal law enforce-
ment.
On June 28, 2021, a passenger tried to board a flight in a state of extreme intoxi-
cation. My member and their supervisor, fulfilling their duties to secure the aircraft
and protect the other passengers, denied the passenger access to his flight. The pas-
senger became extremely violent—physically assaulting and verbally attacking the
gate agent, a ramp agent, and their supervisor. Our agent sustained an injury to
his back when the passenger pushed our agent into the sharp edge of a coat hanger
on the wall.
There is no doubt about what happened. Video of the assault, taken with a
cellphone by a member of the public, was obtained by local news and is publicly
available.2 Despite the clear evidence of the assault, the Charlotte Police Depart-
ment arrested and charged the passenger only for resisting arrest and trespassing
in the gate area. These charges were dropped the next day. The burden was on my
member to file separate assault charges for which there has been no resolution so
far.
I believe this demonstrates the patchwork and ineffective nature of the response
that often characterizes these incidents. Local law enforcement did not pursue
charges against the passenger for assaulting my member and the FAA and federal
1 https://www.faa.gov/datalresearch/passengerslcargo/unrulylpassengers/
2 WSOC–TV ‘‘Video shows man’s confrontation with gate agent at Charlotte airport’’, July 12,
2021 https://www.wsoctv.com/news/local/video-man-gets-into-confrontation-with-gate-agent-char-
lotte-douglas/QDCX6OIZQ5FGZIZHMKSEXK4URA
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69
law enforcement have likewise refused to pursue this matter seriously. Under the
2018 FAA Reauthorization Act, any interference with airport or air carrier employ-
ees with security duties is punishable by criminal penalties and jail time. A 2017
ruling from the Department of Justice confirms this provision applies to passenger
service workers who perform a range of vital security functions and are therefore
covered under this decision.
In this case, American Airlines banned the passenger from flying with the carrier
for the rest of the year—but the airline is limited in the actions it can take on its
own. The passenger had the ability to return to the airport and board a flight with
a different carrier the very next day. What frontline employees need is improved
communication from federal agencies to local law enforcement on their responsibility
to thoroughly document incidents like these and refer for federal prosecution when
appropriate. Federal law enforcement must also follow through in pursuing reper-
cussions outlined under the law as it stands now.
My member is just one of many gate agents across the country who have had ex-
periences of physical or verbal abuse from enraged passengers. These incidents don’t
just affect the workers directly involved, impacts of an unsafe work environment re-
verberates throughout my membership and the broader airport workforce.
Working in an environment where violence can erupt at any moment results in
high levels of stress, and I’ve heard members express the impact of stress. I’ve
heard from members who cry every day before going into the airport or feel like
they’re having a ‘‘nervous breakdown’’ before their shift starts. Many of my mem-
bers feel that they’re reaching a breaking point.
Low morale doesn’t just have a human cost, but a cost to the industry as well.
I am seeing members separate from the job, go out on unpaid leave, and reduce
their hours to part time as a result of the stress and unsafe conditions. Airlines are
struggling to retain their workforce or recruit new employees.
I believe that for passengers to understand that these actions will not be toler-
ated, local and federal law enforcement must pursue repercussions for offenders.
The 2017 ruling from the Department of Justice makes clear that interference with
agents with security duties is a matter for federal law enforcement. Pursuing these
cases will also send a powerful message to airport and airline workers that their
work is valued and their safety is a priority. My members deserve a commitment
to protect them while they serve all of us.
Thank you.
f
Statement of Paul Hudson, President, FlyersRights.org, Submitted for the
Record by Hon. Garret Graves of Louisiana
COMMENT OF FLYERSRIGHTS.ORG TO THE HOUSE AVIATION SUBCOMMITTEE ON THE
INCREASED NUMBER OF AIRLINE INCIDENTS
The recent increase in violent incidents in air travel is a serious issue in need
of solutions. The subcommittee hearing would benefit from hearing the passenger
perspective. FlyersRights.org submitted a rulemaking petition to the Department of
Transportation in August 2020 to mandate mask wearing in air travel and has been
the leading organization advocating for Covid mitigation measures to make air trav-
el safer. FlyersRights.org also published a financial stimulus and covid mitigation
policy proposal that, for less than the three combined bailout payments, would have
made air travel safer and would have allowed the airlines to more effectively in-
crease service, avoiding the widespread cancellations seen this summer.1
According to the latest FAA data, mask-related reported incidents account for 73%
of all incidents reported by crewmembers in 2021.2 At the same time, non-mask re-
lated incidents are down, and the FAA has more than doubled the number of its
investigations. FlyersRights.org proposes the following solutions to reduce the num-
ber of mask-related disturbances on airplanes:
1. Implement the yellow card system where a passenger is given a written warn-
ing and the ability to send a written complaint to the pilot or airline as means
of de-escalation.
2. Ensure flight attendants themselves comply with and more consistently enforce
the mask rules.
3. Allow greater ease of obtaining legitimate health and disability exceptions to
the mask rule.
1 https://flyersrights.org/news/f/air-travel-social-distancing-and-stimulus-plan
2 https://www.faa.gov/datalresearch/passengerslcargo/unrulylpassengers/
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4. Implement greater covid mitigation measures, including social distancing and
temperature checks. Social distancing must be enforced not only on the air-
plane, but at the gate, during the boarding process, and at security check-
points.
5. Reevaluate the TSA mask mandate extensions with a public notice and com-
ment process.
The airlines have crammed passengers on a smaller number of flights with no so-
cial distancing, no middle seat blocking, no capacity limits, no temperature check-
ing, and no covid testing. While some passengers oppose masks for political reasons,
others see the lack of other common sense safety precautions taken by the airlines
(social distancing, middle seat blocking, temperature checks) and the lack of con-
sistent enforcement on passengers and flight attendants as signs that maybe safety
precautions are not needed.
Prosecution for battery is needed when these incidents become violent. However,
it would be a severe escalation and a gross infringement on civil liberties to invoke
the Patriot Act’s felony ‘‘interference with flight crew members and flight attend-
ants,’’ intended for hijackers, to threaten a passenger with up to 20 years in prison.3
FlyersRights.org has advocated for a mask rule as well as other health measures
to protect passengers and crew members. While most flight attendants enforce the
mask rule as best as they can under the circumstances, often flight attendants do
not attempt enforcement and themselves violate the mask rule.
Not only will these proposals help curb the increased number of abhorrent pas-
senger incidents, it is vital for the continued health of all passengers and flight crew
throughout the pandemic.
ABOUT FLYERSRIGHTS.ORG
FlyersRights.org is the largest nonprofit airline passenger organization with over
50,000 members and supporters nationwide. It publishes a weekly online newsletter,
operates a toll free hotline for airline passengers, and advocates for their rights and
interests. FlyersRights was founded in 2007 after thousands of passengers, includ-
ing the founder Kate Hanni, were stranded on the tarmac for over nine hours in
Austin, Texas.
Æ
3 49 USC § 46504.
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