Alleged disruptive passenger on Southwest Airlines flight met by police at KCI gate
Law enforcement officers met a passenger at the gate at Kansas City International Airport after the person allegedly became disruptive aboard a Southwest Airlines flight from Raleigh-Durham International Airport, a spokesperson for the airline said Sunday.
Southwest Airlines Flight 2066 had been delayed about an hour from departing Saturday evening from the airport in North Carolina and arrived in Kansas City about 8:40 p.m., according to FlightAware, a flight tracking company.
“Our reports indicate that a customer traveling on flight 2066, with scheduled service from Raleigh-Durham to Kansas City, was met by law enforcement at the gate in Kansas City due to exhibiting disruptive behavior onboard,” said Laura Swift, a spokesperson for the airline said.
Swift referred further questions to local authorities. A KCI spokesman said the matter fell under the FBI’s jurisdiction.
Dixon Land, a public affairs specialist with the FBI in Kansas City, confirmed that the FBI responded and did not take anyone into custody Saturday evening. The FBI did not comment further.
Incidents of bad behavior among airline passengers are rising as air travel continues its post-pandemic recovery, according to a new study released in June by the International Air Transport Association.
The analysis found that incidents of unruly passenger increased significantly in 2022 compared to 2021, with one unruly incident reported for every 568 flights in 2022, up from one per 835 flights in 2021, according to the association.
Although physical abuse incidents often draw the most media attention, they remain rare — about one in every 17,200 flights last year. But that was an increase of 67% over the previous year.
The most common incidents in 2022 were non-compliance, verbal abuse and intoxication. Non-compliance incidents initially fell after mask mandates were removed on most flights, but the frequency began to rise, with 2022 ending the year up 37% over 2021, the association said.
Non-compliance issues include smoking of cigarettes, e-cigarettes, vapes and puff devices in the cabin or lavatories, failure to fasten seat belts when instructed, exceeding carry-on baggage allowances or failing to store baggage when required, and consumption of alcohol that passengers brought on board.
This story was originally published July 31, 2023 at 9:21 AM.
