The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) plans to tighten the knot in enforcing COVID-19 containment policies in airplanes. In a recent move to curb insubordination towards flight attendants from rowdy passengers, FAA is planning to enforce the mask policy by fining passengers who don’t comply in terms of tens of thousands.
A good example is a female passenger who was aboard a JetBlue Flight from Boston headed to Puerto Rico on December 27, 2020. Reports indicate that she defied a directive to wear a mask or stay seated. Now, she may be facing a fine of up to $20,000.
Even worse, the passenger created a scene aboard the plane. According to Fox 5 news, she punched the flight attendant and screamed insults when she was requested to remain seated and comply with the instructions.
Another instance involved a passenger outbound to the Dominican Republic from New York still on JetBlue Airline. The passenger who declined to wear a mask and was drinking alcohol in the bathroom will now face a fine of $12, 500.
These two passengers have been given an ultimatum of 30 days to have responded to the FAA’s enforcement letters. These are just a few amongst the many cases of unruly passengers who have disobeyed flight attendants’ instructions and pleas from fellow passengers and refused to wear masks. In fact, FAA confirmed there are more than 500 reported cases.
A report released by FAA Administrator Stephen Dickson to the news outlets indicated that the number of such cases is still too high and that’s why he feels there a need to take more urgent and stern action.
And as of now, the FAA has 450 open cases that are currently under investigation, and they have already initiated formal enforcement cases into at least five of them. Passengers who will be found guilty will face hefty fines and some of them may even serve jail time.
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