Ryanair is seeking $15,000 in damages.
The flying conditions have become cloudy due to unruly passengers. However, a budget airline is trying to set an example by punishing a passenger for bad behavior. The low-cost Irish airline Ryanair is dragging a passenger who disrupted a flight to court. The legal proceedings have been filed in civil court in Ireland, and the airline is demanding €15,000 ($15,450) in damages.
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Passengers often sue airlines for various reasons, including discrimination, but this is one of those unique cases in which an airline is going after a passenger. The official statement from the airline provided details about the incident, which occurred in April last year on a flight from Dublin, Ireland, to Lanzarote, Spain. Due to the passenger’s behavior, the flight was diverted to Porto and eventually delayed for a day. The airline had to make overnight arrangements for 160 passengers, and according to their spokesperson, passenger expenses, accommodation, and landing costs made the airline €15,000 poorer.
Now it wants the passenger to pay for it. A spokesperson said in their statement, “This demonstrates just one of the many consequences that passengers who disrupt flights will face as part of Ryanair’s zero-tolerance policy, and we hope this action will deter further disruptive behavior on flights so that passengers and crew can travel in a comfortable and respectful environment.”
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The airline has not provided more details about the incident, but it confirmed to CNN that it was the first time it had taken civil action against a passenger in Ireland. It plans to combat unruly behavior on flights by pursuing legal action.
Unruliness Still a Menace
In 2021, cases of bad behavior on flights spiked. The Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported 5,973 incidents and adopted a zero-tolerance approach, fining passengers, referring particularly severe cases to the FBI, and punishing them with restrictions and bans. In 2023, the agency levied $7.5 million in fines.
Over the last three years, the number of incidents has halved, but it is still double that of pre-pandemic levels. The number is still as high as 2,102 for 2024, and these are the cases that make it onto the books. Flight crews and airlines face significant challenges when something untoward occurs on board, and passengers often bear the brunt of disruptions that cause anguish and stress.
However, more and more unruly passengers are being punished for causing disturbances. The FAA sued a passenger in 2024 for not paying $81,950 in civil penalties. Heather Wells is being pursued for an incident in 2021 when she caused a ruckus on a flight by biting and spitting on the crew and attempting to open the exit. She was gagged and duct-taped to her seat to restrain her and had to be sedated before being removed from the flight.
Back in 2019, Lufthansa also sued a passenger—not for interfering with the crew, but for skiplagging (when you book a multi-stop itinerary and disembark in the layover city). Fliers can sometimes find cheaper tickets to their destinations by skiplagging, and airlines dislike this tactic. The German airline took a passenger to court to make him pay the difference in fare (around $2,000) when he used this trick.
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