While airline crew are trained to deal with difficult passengers, sometimes the situation can escalate to the point of forcing the flight to divert. Something similar happened with a Delta Air Lines flight within the United States, which had to divert due to an unruly passenger. Such cases have been steadily rising over the last several years, highlighting the growing need to address the issue.
Delta flight diverts
On December 23, a 
Delta Air Lines
flight traveling from Cincinnati/Northern Kentucky International Airport (CVG) to Harry Reid International Airport (LAS) had to divert to Kansas City International Airport (MCI) due to a passenger-related situation onboard.
According to Flightradar24, flight DL2915 took off at 07:11 for a three-and-a-half-hour flight to Vegas. But after cruising at 34,000 feet for a little while, the Airbus A321 was seen descending towards Kansas City.
With a busy travel season underway, any diversion has the potential to have a cascading effect, disrupting further flights throughout the day. American Airlines also experienced some
flight disruption on Christmas Eve
due to a technical glitch.
Regarding the recent Delta flight, not much is known about the passenger details or what happened during the flight to force a diversion, but FOX19 NOW quoted a Delta spokesperson as saying,
“Delta flight 2915 from Cincinnati (CVG) to Las Vegas (LAS) on Dec. 23 diverted to Kansas City (MCI) to remove an unruly customer. Delta has zero tolerance for unruly behavior and will work with law enforcement authorities to that end. We apologize to our customers for the delay in their travel.”
Simple Flying has also contacted Delta for comments.
Other incidents
This wasn’t an isolated incident. In fact, diversions and delays due to unruly passengers have been steadily on the rise. Recently, a Southwest Airlines flight from Arizona to Ohio was forced to return to Phoenix Sky Harbor International Airport (PHX) due to an altercation between two passengers.
Photo: BlueBarronPhoto | Shutterstock
The flight turned back less than 20 minutes after takeoff and later continued to its original destination of Columbus, Ohio.
A couple of months ago, a 44-year-old passenger on a United Airlines flight from San Francisco International Airport to Washington Dulles International Airport allegedly struck a sleeping passenger multiple times in the face. The victim had blood streaming from a laceration on his nose and sustained bruises around both eyes.
“United said, Thanks to the quick action of our crew and customers, one passenger was restrained after becoming physically aggressive toward another customer … The flight landed safely and was met by paramedics and local law enforcement.”
In October, a passenger on an Etihad flight from Zayed International Airport (AUH) to Boston Logan International Airport (BOS) made unwanted sexual advances toward a female passenger onboard the nearly 14-hour flight.
As he wandered down the aisle, he allegedly touched the woman and took pictures of her without permission. Some passengers also noticed him performing an inappropriate act under a blanket, while some saw him with his genitalia fully exposed.
Photo: alphonsusjimos | Shutterstock
He was charged by a criminal complaint with one count of lewd, indecent, and obscene acts while in the special aircraft jurisdiction of the US. The charge provides a prison sentence of up to 90 days, up to one year of supervised release, and a fine of as much as $5,000. This has been covered by Simple Flying in detail in the article below.
Related
Boston-Bound Etihad Airways Passenger Exposes Self & Performs Inappropriate Act Inflight
The man was arrested and could be imprisoned for up to 90 days.
What does the FAA say?
The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) says that it has a zero-tolerance policy on unruly passenger behavior. It notes that incidents where unruly passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior are an ongoing problem and have been growing in occurrences since 2021.
Photo: M101Studio | Shutterstock
An offender can face several consequences. The FAA can propose up to $37,000 per violation for unruly passenger cases, and one incident can result in multiple fines. Such passengers can also have their TSA PreCheck eligibility affected and face an internal no-fly list for an airline. More details about this can be found on the FAA website.
