Sec. Buttigieg looking for reductions in unruly passengers, close calls after busiest air travel summer on record

As an increasing number of passengers are acting out on crowded aircraft this summer, Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg has an admonition for passengers. “If you’re onboard an airplane, do not get in the way of the flight crew,” he said Friday before boarding a flight at O’Hare International Airport in Chicago. “We expect everybody to respect flight crews and their fellow passengers.” Incidents ticked up over the summer months, from 586 last summer to 747 this year, according to FAA records. Those numbers are still down from highs reached during the coronavirus pandemic. The FAA has been issuing fines and touting a zero-tolerance approach. Earlier this month, the agency said it had referred some of the most serious cases to the Justice Department to consider criminal prosecution. “No one should do anything that endangers the flight crew or fellow passengers on a plane, and doing so could lead to you being referred for criminal prosecution and facing tens of thousands of dollars in fines,” Buttigieg said. He made the comments as the TSA said the summer was the busiest at airports nationwide in the agency’s two-decade history. Buttigieg said airlines are doing a better job than last summer at getting passengers to their destinations.<br/>