UK airline fines unruly passenger $106,000 for ‘dangerous behaviour’

Jet2, a British budget airline and tour operator, said it had fined a passenger about $106,000 after her behaviour aboard a flight to Turkey last month prompted military jets to escort the plane back to an airport near London.

The evening flight from Stansted Airport, north of London, to Dalaman, a coastal town in southwestern Turkey, was cut short June 22 after a 25-year-old passenger, Chloe Haines of Maidenhead, England, “displayed a catalogue of aggressive, abusive and dangerous behaviour,” the airline said in a statement issued Tuesday.

Her erratic conduct, which included attempting to open the plane doors during the flight, “was one of the most serious cases of disruptive passenger behaviour that we have experienced,” Steve Heapy, the airline’s chief executive, said in the statement.

Two Typhoon fighter jets from the Royal Air Force were called to escort the aircraft back to Stansted Airport, Jet2 said.

“She must now face up to the consequences of her actions, and we will vigorously pursue to recover the costs that we incurred,” Heapy said.

In addition to the fine, Haines has also been banned for life from the airline.

The crew of the June 22 flight restrained Haines with the help of other passengers while the plane was over the North Sea, a spokesman for the airline said by email Thursday.

After the plane returned to Stansted, police officers boarded the plane and arrested the 25-year-old woman from Maidenhead on suspicion of common assault, criminal damage and endangering an aircraft, the Essex Police said on Twitter last month.

She was released on bail until the end of July, police added.

Thomas Budd, a lecturer in airport planning and management at Cranfield University in southern England, said that Jet2’s response was relatively unusual.

“To my knowledge, it is rare for an airline to pursue the passenger in this way and to do so publicly,” Budd said.

Sarah Stewart, an aviation lawyer in London, said that there had been a sharp increase in disruptive behaviour on planes. From 2007 to 2015, there were over 49,000 reported cases of “unruly passenger incidents onboard aircraft in flight,” she said in an email Thursday.

Stewart said that costs for forced plane reroutings typically ranged from 10,000 pounds to 80,000 pounds, or about $12,400 to $99,300, “depending on the size of the aircraft and where it diverts to.”

She added that offenders could face large fines and lifetime bans, like those issued to Haines, and even imprisonment, but that the punishment for the disruption depended on the severity of the act.

“Acts of drunkenness on an aircraft face a maximum fine of 5,000 euros and two years in prison,” she said. “The prison sentence for endangering the safety of an aircraft is up to five years; disruptive passengers can be asked to reimburse the airline the costs resulting from their disruptive behaviour, including the cost for diversions, damage to aircraft and delays.

“If the passenger refuses to pay, enforcement action can be taken,” she added.

Heapy, the Jet2 chief, said that he hoped the case involving Haines would be seen as a cautionary tale.

“As a family-friendly airline, we take an absolutely zero-tolerance approach to disruptive behaviour,” he said.

Haines could not be reached for comment.

© 2019 New York Times News Service