More air traffic means more misbehaving passengers
In the first half of 2023, air travel continued to grow globally.
Domestic air travel went beyond the levels from before the pandemic. Air traffic increased by 31% in June 2023 compared to June 2022, and by 47.2% in the first half of 2023 compared to the same period in 2022.
The International Air Transport Association (IATA) issued a report about this called the June 2023 Air Passenger Market Analysis. Domestic air traffic rose by 27.2% in June 2023 compared to the previous year.
For the first half of 2023, domestic demand is up by 33.3% compared to the same period in 2022 and is 5.1% higher than the results from June 2019.
More passengers are acting badly and causing problems than before.
As the popularity of air travel continues to soar, it appears that the number of incidents involving passengers on flights around the world are also rising.
According to the International Air Transport Association (IATA), the number of passenger incidents significantly increased in 2022 compared to the previous year.
The IATA’s Airlines platform reported that the United States alone issued millions of dollars’ worth of fines in response to these incidents.
In 2022, the fines for such incidents totaled $8.4 million, highlighting the seriousness of the problem. IATA data shows that there was one incident reported for every 568 flights in 2022, an increase from one per 835 flights in 2021.
The most common incidents on flights were related to smoking, not wearing seatbelts, and bringing too much baggage, but there were also cases of passengers drinking alcohol, being rude, and getting drunk. It is clear that the aviation industry must continue to take steps to address these issues and ensure the safety and comfort of all passengers aboard flights.