Unruly airplane passengers are on the rise

Air travel can be hard work, whether it's navigating super-long security lines, losing the seat lottery and ending up jammed in the middle of the row.

In these stress-inducing scenarios, most of the passengers put on their headphones and distract themselves with a movie, or they just simply decide to take a nap.

For others, the pressure gets too much, the scales tip over into the wrong direction and the perfect storm's created for the unfortunate phenomenon known as air rage.

Air rage is a term used for disruptive and unruly passenger behavior, ranging from snapping at the flight attendant, refusing to sit down, brawling with another passenger and even, in the most extreme scenarios, attempting to enter the flight deck or open the emergency exit door.

In 2017, there was 1 unruly passenger incident for every 1,053 flights. Between 2007 and 2017 there were over 66,000 incidents reported to International Air Transport Association (IATA).

Committed by a minority percentage of passengers, unruly incidents have a disproportionate impact, threatening safety, disrupting other passengers and crew and causing delays and diversions. However, due to loopholes in existing laws, such offences often remain unpunished.

These situations might be exacerbated, or even directly caused, by excessive alcohol consumption, fear of flying, mental health conditions or other individual issues the traveller is dealing with.

Statistics recorded by the International Air Transport Association (IATA) suggest incidents involving unruly airplane passengers are on the rise.

Airlines and aviation authorities have been clamping down, with campaigns such as the European Aviation Safety Agency's #notonmyflight initiative shining a light on the issue.

Steady increase

The International Air Transport Association (IATA) has been collecting data on disruptive passenger behavior since 2007.

The latest available data, from 2017, indicated an average of one incident for every 1,053 flights. In 2016, IATA reported one incident for every 1,434 flights.

It's worth bearing in mind that not every airline that's part of IATA submits data, and not every airline records every instance of unruly behavior.

In 2017, 81 global airlines submitted data for over 900,000 flights.

A growth in air rage sometimes gets pinned on the increased security checks and subsequent stresses that have characterized aviation in the years since 9/11.

Aviation has also changed more generally in the past decade or so as more people take to the skies, more passengers are crammed into the cabin.

More often than not, people are too close for comfort and tensions run high.

US internal flights are allowed to overbook aircraft to account for no-shows. Passengers are asked if they'll take a later flight, offered air miles or other incentives. But if no one volunteers, the airline will "involuntarily de-board passengers" possibly based on check-time, cost of ticket or status with the airline.

In a memorable and disturbing incident from 2017, a man was dragged off a United flight after he refused to de-board. In this instance, reports concluded that the flight attendants were in the wrong but it demonstrates how charged these situations can become.