Europe – Beginning January 2020, a new legislation will be looking into curbing the problem of unruly behaviour in the skies, including meting out corresponding punishment to deter future troublemakers.
We want as many countries as possible to ratify this treaty…and we expect more to do so,– Chris Goater, assistant director, corporate communications for Europe at the International Air Transport Association (IATA)
Airplane passengers have been hitting headlines for the wrong reasons of late, including one who turned aggressive and caused an American Airlines flight to divert routes, the man who impersonated a Lufthansa pilot, or the woman who confused the emergency exit for the toilet door onboard a Pakistan International Airlines flight.
The current Tokyo Convention of 1963 is honoured by key countries such as the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, United States of America, Republic of China, The Philippines, Norway, Denmark, Sweden, Portugal, Italy, Upper Volta, Niger, Mexico and Israel.
But the convention makes it difficult to take unruly passengers in hand, since although it gives jurisdiction over offenses committed onboard aircrafts, it’s tied to the state the aircraft is registered at. This means once the aircraft lands in another state, it is up to local law officials to take over the unruly situation.
Seeing loopholes, over 100 governments gathered in 2014 and adopted a protocol to amend the Tokyo Convention, giving greater clarity to defining unruly behaviour, such as refusal to follow safety instructions, threats, and actual physical assaults.
The changes would only come into force when 22 states ratify the protocol, which happened recently when Nigeria became the final country to join on November 26, 2019.
"We want as many countries as possible to ratify this treaty…and we expect more to do so," shares Chris Goater, assistant director, corporate communications for Europe at the International Air Transport Association (IATA).
IATA has been collecting data on disruptive passengers since 2007, where the latest statistics from 2017 indicate one incident reported for every 1,053 flights. Still, not every airline has joined IATA, nor will every airline report incidents, which make the statistics harder to monitor.
"Crew and other passengers who just want a nice peaceful flight deserve better, which is why we're tackling this as a matter of urgency," says Goater.