The lawyer for the assaulted United Airlines passenger Thursday excoriated the airline and police for physically dragging his client off a flight from Chicago Sunday.
United CEO Oscar Munoz apologized Wednesday for the incident and said the policy removing seated passenger should be changed, but many seated passengers on various airlines has been forcibly removed after becoming disruptive.
ABC News reported last July that 4000 air rage incidents were documented in 2015, but only a handful of the cases ended up with the passenger being fined. These fines can go up to $25,000.
“Our U.S. airlines have failed to promote cabin safety over their profits,” Patricia Friend, head of the Association of Flight Attendants, said to ABC. “They have failed adopt training guidelines issued by the FAA, they’ve failed to take the full responsibility for these air rage incidents, and they’ve failed to support workers who are victims of air rage.”
Last January, one passenger on a 15-hour United flight from Australia to San Francisco caused the plane to be rerouted to New Zealand after becoming unruly towards passengers and yelling profanities at a flight attendant.
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Last December, a midair flight from Minneapolis en route to Los Angeles returned to Minneapolis after a couple was removed from the plane for causing a disruption.
One man was thrown off his flight last August after berating fellow passengers before take-off.
Over one year ago, a passenger brawl broke out on a Baltimore to Los Angeles Spirit Airlines flight.
One passenger stood up on a seat and started screaming at another passenger last January.
Two years ago, a passenger lit a cigarette while plane was in midair and attempted to blame her seat-mate when questioned by the flight attendant.
Some passengers are uncooperative before they even get on their flight. One man breached security at Los Angeles airport two years ago and was tazered by law enforcement after brushing off security personnel at a check point.
Another midair flight on Spirit Airlines almost one year ago shows a woman screaming at passengers on a flight from Dallas to Denver.
In January, one woman was thrown off a flight before take-off for harassing her seat mate for being a Donald Trump supporter.
Three years ago a New Mexico woman was arrested and removed from a flight after punching a flight attendant.
Charlotte Police were brought on board two different flights last July to remove two unruly passengers.
A midair Spirit flight last August involved an out of control woman who screamed at passengers and the flight attendant. Passengers can be heard in the video, “tie her up.”
Last August, an American Airline pilot had to intervene on a midair flight when a drunk passenger refused to sit in his seat.
Three years ago, a Jetblue passenger stood on his seat 90 minutes into the flight and began yelling in a foreign language. The passenger was eventually restrained and tied into a row of empty seats. The plane was then re-routed.
