Should Unruly Airline Passengers Be Placed On A Federal “No Fly” List?

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – Several major U.S. airlines, including Delta and American Airlines, are asking the federal government to make a “No Fly List” for unruly airplane passengers. This comes after thousands of reports of flight crews being assaulted, and dealing with violent passengers. There have been nearly 500 reports so far this year, and it’s only February. But several GOP law makers say a federally mandated no fly list would equate unruly passengers to terrorists.

Flight crews argue the bad behavior will continue, until passengers see there are real consequences for their actions. “The flight attendants who are working these flights have been punched, kicked, spit on, disrespected and constantly under assault,” says Sara Nelson of the Association of Flight Attendants. Nelson continues, “Until we have people actually landing in jail and understanding that there’s real consequences for acting out on a flight, we’re not going to see these incidents go down.”

The DOJ is working on the possibility of creating a federal “No Fly List.” Right now, airlines are allowed to create their own. But, that doesn’t stop passengers banned on one airline from buying a ticket on another.

Our question of the night: should unruly airplane passengers be put on a “No Fly List?”

This episode’s panel features:
WCCB TV’s Morgan Fogarty
WCCB TV’s Zach Aldridge
WCCB News Edge contributor and host of Live With The QCB, Tremaine “QCB” Sloan