As if we needed any more problems, passengers from hell are a thing now (or more a thing than before, anyway). They assault flight attendants, toss food and alcohol around, and throw their masks on the ground. Delta Air Lines has apparently had enough.
In two internal memos to employees this week, Delta said it had asked its competitors to share their internal no-fly lists, which it says would prevent crappy passengers from causing trouble on different airlines. The company has so far submitted more than 600 names of banned passengers to the Federal Aviation Administration this year.
The memos were sent on the same week that Delta participated, through the industry trade group Airlines for America, in a hearing on “air rage” held by the House Committee on Transportation & Infrastructure on Thursday.
Kristen Manion Taylor, senior vice president of inflight service, said in her memo that Delta had more than 1,600 people on its internal no-fly list. She added that the company had been analyzing safety on its flights over the past few months and would roll out additional measures on training and response on board.
“We’ve also asked other airlines to share their ‘no fly’ list to further protect airline employees across the industry – something we know is top of mind for you as well,” Taylor said. “A list of banned customers doesn’t work as well if that customer can fly with another airline.”
It’s not clear how such information-sharing would work, though. When asked by the Washington Post, Delta did not elaborate whether sharing the internal lists should be done via the federal government or directly with other airlines.
According to the FAA, the majority of the problems with unruly passengers this year are related to individuals refusing to comply with federal mask mandates. Since January, the agency has received about 3,889 reports of unruly passengers. Of those, 2,867 involved the mask mandate. As of August, the FAA had fined these passengers more than $1 million in fines for their bad behavior.
At the hearing, Lauren Beyer, the vice president for security and facilitation at Airlines for America, said that “there are legal and operational challenges with airlines sharing those lists amongst one another,” the Post reported.
In response, committee chairman Peter DeFazio, Democrat of Oregon, mulled whether it would be possible for the FAA to create a database with the information from the airlines’ no-fly lists that all companies could access. Nonetheless, the FAA did not commit to the idea on Friday, telling the Post that it was meeting with airports, airlines, unions, and others to discuss what measures it could take to address unruly passengers.
DISCUSSION
So here’s an anecdote that might cheer you up (or depress you even further - I’m not sure at this point).
I’m lucky enough to be able to travel up front a lot of the time. Three weeks ago I flew to England for the first time since 2019 - because they finally dropped the mandatory 10 day quarantine. I’m a low-maintenance flyer. Bring me food or drink when you want, then I’ll just watch movies or sleep. I always smile at the cabin crew when I board, and I always try to chat with them for a minute when they have the time.
But this time I bought a small box of hand-made chocolates from a local store before flying, and while everyone was boarding the plane, I went to the front galley and gave the box to one of the cabin crew and explained that not every passenger is a complete dick, and thanks for continuing to put up with the ridiculous hostility some people are displaying. I said “a lot of us still very much appreciate the work you do - these are to share with today’s cabin crew”.
What I didn’t expect was for her to start crying. She basically said what you’ve all read about here - too many people treat cabin crew as objects and don’t even take the time to say ‘hello’ or acknowledge their existence. She couldn’t believe I’d taken the time to not only go and talk to her but also to bring a token of gratitude for the flight crew. Throughout the 9 hour flight to England, I was visited by every single member of the cabin crew (first class and coach), and one of the pilots, who all thanked me for ‘making a difference’ on that one flight.
It shouldn’t need saying but treat the cabin crew like you yourself would like to be treated. It doesn’t matter if you’re in coach, premium, business or first - they’re all the same as you. A smile and some light conversation will go a long way towards helping them feel like not everyone wants to assault them.