The 10 Worst Airline Passengers in America

A JetBlue passenger was penalized a whopping $45,000 for throwing objects at other passengers, refusing to stay seated, lying on the floor, and putting his head up a flight attendant’s skirt. The offender was flying from New York to Orlando and was placed in flexi-cuffs while the flight made an emergency landing in Richmond. Now he’ll be asked to cough up as much as a student’s college tuition fee for his awful behavior.

Another incident on a JetBlue flight. This one was flying from Queens to San Francisco when a passenger refused to wear a mask, made non-consensual contact with another passenger, threatened other passengers with harm, made stabbing gestures, and snorted cocaine from a bag. The flight was diverted to Minneapolis and he was removed from the aircraft by law enforcement officers.

On a Southwest flight from San Jose to San Diego in April, a passenger drank his own alcohol (prohibited by law) and sexually assaulted a flight attendant. He went on to smoke marijuana in the lavatory as the flight was descending and was arrested for public intoxication and resisting arrest. 

An American Airlines flight from Dallas/Fort Worth to Burbank in March had a major disruption from a passenger who refused to wear a mask on board. He faked drinking from an empty cup when requested to wear his mask several times by the crew, threw his second alcoholic drink to the floor and stomped on it, and requested another one when a nearby passenger called him out for being out of line. The disruptive passenger yelled profanities, the FAA, reports, and the flight attendant requested law enforcement to meet at the arrival gate after de-escalating the situation in the air.

In January 2021, a Southwest Airlines flight from Orlando to Kansas City was returned to the gate due to an unruly passenger. He assaulted passengers around him when someone refused to change seats with his travel partner. He threatened to commit violent crimes and told his companion he’d need to bail him out. Along with the $32,500 penalty that the FAA slapped on him, Southwest also took punitive action by putting him on their no-fly list.

The passenger who brought home $32,000 in penalties was flying from Austin to San Francisco. She refused to fasten her seat belt, punched and screamed at her husband and son, threw trash at a flight attendant, and snatched cookies from a fellow passenger. 

A Frontier Airlines from Atlanta to New York had a major disturbance when a passenger tried to gain entry into the flight deck during deplaning. He physically assaulted two flight attendants and threatened to kill them and the captain had to call for law enforcement on exiting. 

On a JetBlue flight from Boston to Orlando, a passenger refused to wear her mask. Her list of unruly behavior also included screaming profanities, purposely bumping into a seated passenger, and punching that passenger. Law enforcement was waiting for her at the gate on arrival.

In May, a Southwest flight bound to Chicago witnessed an altercation between a passenger and the crew. The man tried to enter the cockpit during the final descent, attempted to remove his luggage from the overhead compartment while the plane was still in motion, and punched a flight attendant when he was held down during touchdown to avoid injuries. The flight attendant required medical attention and he was welcomed by law enforcement at the gate.

In March last year, a passenger screamed obscenities at the flight crew and other passengers and locked herself in the lavatory of the Frontier Airlines aircraft heading to Providence. She also threw nuts at other passengers and shoved both her middle fingers in the flight attendant’s face. She was removed from the flight on arrival by law officers.