Put bad actors on no-fly list

Recently in the news was yet another example of an out-of-control airline passenger who created complete havoc on a flight, putting lives in danger and forcing those on board to tackle him to the ground.
Francisco Torres was on a cross-country flight from Los Angeles to Boston when he was arrested for attacking a flight attendant and attempting to open the plane’s emergency doors. Torres also threatened to kill people and promised a “bloodbath” before charging toward the front of the plane, where passengers tackled him to the ground and restrained him.
It seems more and more, especially since the COVID-19 pandemic, more and more people have been acting out on airplanes. There are numerous videos of people yelling at each other on planes, fighting on planes, yelling at flight attendants, attacking flight attendants and other forms of bad behavior on planes. In 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) received nearly 6,000 reports of unruly behavior aboard U.S. airlines. The majority of those cases involved travelers riled up over mask mandates, according to a report in the Dallas Morning News.
That number dropped to just over 2,400 in 2022 after the FAA dispensed with issuing warnings to out-of-control passengers and stepped up enforcement instead. Mask mandates were also removed in April. Still, that number is far more than pre-pandemic years.
Delta Airlines chief executive Ed Bastian has called for the federal government to create a national no-fly list of passengers convicted of crimes related to onboard disruptions. Some airlines have their own no-fly lists but due to privacy concerns cannot share them with other airlines, so people who have been banned from one airline can just move to another airline.
Several dozen members of the Association of Flight Attendants-CWA recently went to Capitol Hill and urged lawmakers to support creation of a no-fly list as part of the FAA Reauthorization Act. We are all in favor of this. If people can’t act like an adult on a flight, they can drive to their destination. If it’s across the ocean, they can catch a boat. Maybe the increased time to get from place to place will give them ample time to contemplate their manners.
Create the no-fly list, and make it known it’s coming. That will give people time to decide if they want to act right. Once it’s enacted, hammer the offenders. Want to fight on a plane? It’s a three-year ban. A second offense is 10 years. A third offense? You never fly again. There could and should be an appeal process, but people who can’t behave on a plane shouldn’t be on them. It’s not that hard to sit down and watch a movie or two for three hours.
As these increases continue on, a no-fly list for these troublemakers is long overdue. We are all for it.