Flight attendants are flocking to self-defense classes as 2021 unruly passenger fines top $1 million

The Federal Aviation Administration said Thursday that so far this year it has issued more than $1 million in fines for in-flight incidents and "received approximately 3,889 reports of unruly behavior by passengers, including about 2,867 reports of passengers refusing to comply with the federal face mask mandate." One unidentified passenger was fined $45,000 for "throwing objects" at fellow passengers on an Orlando-bound Jet Blue flight and "grabbing a flight attendant by the ankles and putting his head up her skirt."

Many flight attendants are responding by attending self-defense training taught by federal air marshals. The courses, started in 2004, were paused last year during the pandemic, but with air travel booming again and passengers misbehaving, "they're back up and running with four times the amount of classes and double the number of attendees as before," ABC News reports. On Thursday, NBC News took viewers inside one of those self-defense sessions in Chicago.

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Peter Weber, The Week US

Peter has worked as a news and culture writer and editor at The Week since the site's launch in 2008. He covers politics, world affairs, religion and cultural currents. His journalism career began as a copy editor at a financial newswire and has included editorial positions at The New York Times Magazine, Facts on File, and Oregon State University.