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PERTH: An unruly airline passenger has been ordered by an Australian court to pay a hefty sum for his disruptive behaviour during a flight from Perth to Sydney, which forced the plane to turn back to Perth, necessitating a fuel dump before landing.
The Perth Magistrate Court not only fined the 33-year-old man A$9,000 (S$7,800), it also ordered him to pay more than A$8,630 to cover the wasted fuel, bringing the total penalty to over A$17,630.
The Australian passenger, whose identity was not disclosed in court, pleaded guilty on Sept 5 to one count of failure to comply with safety instructions and one count of disorderly behaviour on an aircraft.
Neither the airline nor the details of the man’s actions were made public.
According to the police, the incident occurred on Sept 25, 2023. The case took about a year to work its way through the Australian legal system.
Reports from Australian news outlets suggest the incident occurred on a Jetstar flight, a subsidiary of Qantas.
The man was allegedly intoxicated and locked himself in the toilet until the plane landed.
“This incident should serve as a warning that criminal behaviour on board can come at a heavy cost to the offender,” said Australian Federal Police Acting Superintendent Shona Davis.
“It’s far simpler to obey the directions of airline staff than cause unnecessary issues, which can end up hitting you in the hip pocket.”
When the offender was approached by TV news reporters in 2023, he reportedly said “sorry, guys!” and flexed a bicep, and added that he would “of course” plead guilty because he would not be facing prison for the charges.
Charging a disruptive traveller for the cost of fuel is unusual; fines for poor in-flight behaviour are more common.
In 2022, the US Federal Aviation Administration introduced a zero-tolerance policy for unruly passengers.
Penalties have included fines for attempting to enter the cockpit and for assaulting flight attendants.
The most severe penalty recorded was US$40,823 (S$53,000) for a passenger who brought their own alcohol on board, became intoxicated, attempted to smoke marijuana in the toilet and sexually assaulted a flight attendant – all during a single flight. Such cases are also reported to the Department of Justice.
Aviation attorney Jol Silversmith noted that airlines are becoming more aggressive in pursuing costs from passengers who break the rules.
In 2019, a British-based carrier billed a passenger US$106,000 for trying to open plane doors during a flight.
The International Air Transport Association (Iata) has long highlighted the issue of disruptive passengers. In 2017, there was one incident for every 1,053 flights.
Incidents spiked in the US in 2021, largely due to clashes over mask mandates during the pandemic, with nearly 6,000 reports compared with about 1,000 the previous year.
The Federal Aviation Administration has received nearly 900 reports of unruly passenger behaviour so far in 2024, surpassing the total for 2018.
Globally, Iata reported an increase in incidents post-2021, with one incident for every 568 flights in 2022.
Conrad Clifford, Iata’s then deputy director general, said in 2023: “We all have a responsibility to behave with respect for other passengers and the crew. For the sake of the majority, we make no apology for seeking to crack down on the bad behaviour of a tiny number of travellers.” - The Straits Times/ANN
