(UPDATE) PARIS: Viral videos of vulgar, intoxicated and violent airplane passengers have become common, but it is not just a social media trend; statistics confirm cases are on the rise. The surge in incidents comes as the aviation industry is bouncing back from the Covid pandemic, with airlines expecting to fly a near-record 4.35 billion passengers this year. Passengers wait to board a Delta airlines plane at LaGuardia International Airport in New York on July 28, 2018. And this is despite the FAA's "zero tolerance" policy toward unruly passengers, imposing $8.4 million in fines last year on passengers who sometimes risked criminal prosecution as well. If dialogue and warnings fail, airplanes are equipped with plastic handcuffs to restrain uncontrollable passengers in their seats.
