Airlines deal with thousands of disruptive, troublesome, and often downright dangerous passengers every year. Here's how they classify them.

"Since the pandemic, incidents with unruly passengers on airlines have escalated. There were almost 6,000 reports in 2021, nearly five-times as many as a year earlier, according to data from the Federal Aviation Administration. Over the next three years, the number of incidents remained roughly twice the amount reported pre-pandemic. Up to September 28, there have been 1,205 reports this year. That's already more than in 2020, although it's an encouraging sign that the numbers are falling."

""Incidents where airline passengers have disrupted flights with threatening or violent behavior are an ongoing problem and airlines have seen rapid growth in occurrences since 2021," the FAA says on its page for such statistics. "The rate of unruly passenger incidents steadily dropped by over 80% since record highs in early 2021, but recent increases show there remains more work to do," it adds."

Incidents of unruly airline passengers rose sharply during the pandemic, peaking in 2021 with nearly 6,000 reports—about five times the 2020 level. In the following three years, reported incidents stayed roughly double pre-pandemic counts. As of September 28, there were 1,205 reports for the year, already exceeding 2020 totals but lower than the 2021 high. The FAA identifies threatening or violent passenger behavior as an ongoing problem that surged since 2021 while noting incidents have dropped over 80% from record highs, even as recent increases indicate continued challenges. ICAO defines and classifies disruptive passengers into four levels.

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