Two British passengers hopped-up on vodka and brawling on a flight to Ibiza. A young man causing a scene so severe he had to be strapped to his seat while desperately yelping that his parents were millionaires. A group of reality television stars smoking e-cigarettes and repeatedly refusing to wear masks in business class. These are just some snapshots of air rage that have blighted the skies over the past two years – all captured on video of course. 

Thanks to our womb-like attachment to our smartphones, no mid-flight meltdown goes undocumented these days, but statistics suggest there has been a significant rise in unruly passengers in recent years. In the US, the upswing has been most dramatic. According to statistics from the FAA (Federal Aviation Administration), some 4,600 incidents of disruptive passengers were recorded between January and October 2021, of which 849 required further investigation versus a yearly average of 142 over the last decade.

Airline association IATA has also observed an air rage pandemic running parallel to the Covid crisis. During an informal survey conducted last year, the body said one carrier reported more than 1,000 incidents of ‘non-compliance’ in a single week. Another noted a 55 per cent increase in disruptive episodes.

“One explanation for the hike in incidents is that the context has changed,” said Tim Colehan, IATA’s assistant director of government and industry affairs, when responding to the findings.

Mr Colehan pointed squarely to pandemic protocols when explaining the increase, particularly face mask rules.

“Not wearing a mask is arguably no different to not wearing a seatbelt or not putting your laptop away. They involve a failure to follow instructions. But because of the pandemic and the public health implications, not wearing a mask makes it much more personal and has caused confrontation between passengers. It has also led governments, such as the United States, to take a zero-tolerance approach and to encourage incident reporting by crew.”

Just like on the ground, face mask mandates in the sky have proved a highly emotionally charged issue, with those on both sides of the debate generally entrenched about their positions, citing health or liberty with equal fervour. Certainly masks seem at the centre of many outbursts – according to the FAA, of the 889 recorded incidents of disruptive passengers recorded in 2022 (up to March 14), 587 were related to face masks. 

If face coverings have been a leading cause of air rage, as mask mandates begin to fade away, passenger rage should logically decrease. Already budget airline Jet2 has announced that masks will no longer be required on flights, while British Airways has begun phasing them out on certain routes and Heathrow Airport no longer requires them to be worn in its terminals. However, as aviation is by nature bound by other countries’ rules and protocols, and many nations seem permanently attached to their FFP2s, it seems unlikely the majority of flights will be mask-free in the near future.

On a wider level, it can be argued that our collective turbulent pandemic experience can account for the rise in unruly passengers. Psychologist Noel McDermott suggests the strain of the past two years is the key issue when it comes to air rage, explaining: “When humans are under stress they will often become aggressive – it’s part of what is often called ‘fight or flight’ responses. ‘Stress’ hormones are essentially the same no matter what the stressor – a predator about to eat you or increased restrictions on flying or passionately held beliefs being challenged or existential dread at a pandemic or war starting.