‘No more carry on’: Australian airlines unite against disruptive passengers

Campaign follows a rise in global passenger altercations during the pandemic

As Australia’s travel market reopens, four of its major airlines - along with two aviation bodies - have joined forces on a public awareness campaign about unruly passenger behaviour.

The campaign, titled “No more carry on”, is inspired by reports of a rise in disruptive behaviour among flyers in the US and Europe, which opened to international travel months earlier - with shocking figures released by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) and airline body Iata in recent months.

A launch video, featuring pilots, airport staff and crew from various airlines and airports, alerts would-be flyers that wait times will now be a little longer in airports, reminds them not to forget masks, and asks them to show aviation workers respect at all times.

“The campaign follows an increase in disruptive and abusive behaviour towards airline crew, airport teams and other passengers during the pandemic, with hundreds of incidents reported across the airlines in 2021, many triggered by refusal to follow mask requirements,” reads a statement from airline JetStar.

“In extreme cases, crew have been threatened and physically assaulted by passengers.”

Artwork from the campaign will be displayed across major city airports in the country, while airlines will share the campaign video on social media channels.

Jetstar, Qantas, Rex and Virgin Australia have also signed up to a united “Code of Practice on Passenger Behaviour”, detailing what they expect from travellers going forward.

Commitments outlined in the code include “refusing to allow a customer to board, where necessary, to protect fellow passengers and crew from offensive or disruptive behaviour”, and “Holding passengers who are offensive or disruptive accountable for their behaviour”, with potential repercussions including travel bans.

Earlier this year, US airline Delta called for a nationwide “no-fly list” for US airlines, after it was forced to ban more than 1,600 passengers from its planes following the country’s “mask mandate”.

In January, the US’s FAA body launched a “zero-tolerance campaign” for bad behaviour on flights, as well as tightening its legal enforcement policy for abusive passengers.

Although the rate of passenger incidents has dropped since the launch of the campaign, it still remains high. A September release by the FAA stated that “unruly passenger incidents were occurring approximately six times per every 10,000 flights.”