Serious air rage incidents fall

Last updated at 10:57 04 December 2008


A mona holds her hair and screams

Rage: Latest figures show serious incidents are down

Serious air rage incidents are at their lowest level in four years, it was revealed today.

The Civil Aviation Authority's (CAA) Annual Statistics on Disruptive Passenger Behaviour showed the number of serious incidents reported (defined as one which threatens either personal safety or flight safety) is almost half the 58 recorded in 2006/07, standing at 31.

But the 2007/08 figures also show that there has been a rise in the overall total of non-serious disruptive incidents from 2219 to 2702.

Alcohol consumption and smoking were the main contributory factors in 63 per cent of reported incidents.

But in another positive sign, the probability of a passenger travelling on a flight on which a serious disruptive incident happened improved significantly to 1 in 35,000.

Aviation Minister Jim Fitzpatrick said: 'It is good news that serious incidents are at their lowest for some time - but one act of unruly behaviour is still one too many.

 

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    • 'In recent years we have introduced much tougher maximum penalties for people acting in a threatening or disruptive way on aircraft.

    'Disruptive behaviour is completely unacceptable and our primary concern is to protect the safety and welfare of passengers and crew.'

    The increase in the total number of incidents reported is against a backdrop of more flights and more people flying.

    In 2007/08, UK airlines participating in the reporting scheme carried around 124 million passengers on approximately one million flights.

    This compares to 121 million passengers carried on slightly fewer flights in 2006/07.

    The rise in the total number of non-serious incidents reported can be attributed in part to the continued increase seen over the last four years in reporting, increasing awareness of the issue and zero tolerance policies by airlines in dealing with troublesome passengers.

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