Why are there so many crazy passengers on US airlines?

Probably because there are more and more people who truly believe "It's all about me!". We are all (like it or not) just tiny parts of a larger society, and (like it or not), this world isn't all about them. Not sure why that's so hard to understand, and don't know when it started, but hopefully there will be a return to some level of civility. Can't think of a time in my life when I was harmed by being polite.

If only they would enforce the rules and actually punish people for their transgressions. Airlines just letting things go, just encourages more bad behavior.

“Story was man was upset he was upgraded to First Class…”. A new reason to get upset - whew!

Story without a link is useless.....

I think it has something to do with the quality of the food on the airline.

To answer your question: Because there are so many crazy people in America. Sometimes they fly.

The bigger question is why are there so many crazy people in America?

I think the plane incidents are often alcohol-fueled. Some of those folks may be very nervous flyers who self-medicate before the flight. It's easier for a European who hates flying to travel by train than for an American to avoid flying. How's that for an explanation?

I don't know if we Americans are any more crazy then usual but I have noticed the loss of basic "Manners" we were all taught in grade school. Several of my friends who are teachers have dropped out of teaching because the students behavior is so bad and at times threatening toward them and yet the students parents are just as bad.

Nothing defines a person like good manners, doesn't matter if your a janitor or a PhD Scientist how you interact with those around you displays your character. For some reason it appears that the average American is angry and willing to let everyone around them know about it.

I agree, if someone punches or pushes a Flight Attendant they should be held accountable and banded from flying for life.

(Sorry for the rant, I just can't understand why people feel they have the right to be rude)

How was this not an assault that was reported to police?

See post about selfies.

https://nypost.com/2023/05/02/video-shows-passenger-punching-united-flight-attendant/

Perhaps this is what OP is posting about. See no mention of the 1st class upgrade.

"The unruly passenger, dressed in blue, reportedly flew into a rage after being asked to move out of another traveler’s assigned seat.*"

“On Sunday night, our team at San Francisco International Airport immediately contacted law enforcement officials after a customer became disruptive during boarding,” an airline spokesperson stated.......
It was not immediately known whether the passenger was arrested in the wake of the disturbance.
The Post on Tuesday reached out to the San Francisco Police Department seeking comment on the incident and was awaiting a reply.

I am 75 years old and have seen a general decline in civility and manners from my young days.

I remember that just walking down the street that people used to walk to the right so that pedestrian movement flowed. Now, people don't do that, that walk to the left, center or right and just walking on a sidewalk in a busy city can be a pain.

geovagriffith, I hear you. It's a widespread problem that is also quite seriously infecting our schools, too.

https://districtadministration.com/student-behavior-is-the-leading-cause-for-teachers-leaving/

If I was king for a day these passengers would be banned from flying for 5 years, absent an emergency.

If all airlines implemented the -no fly list- for all these unruly passengers, this behavior would go away. People know that not much will happen to them.

And no excuses-drunk, not feeling well, too bad, actions have consequences. I'm as liberal as can be, but I do believe people should be punished. Hurt an employee? Hope you like Amtrak or cruises. And I can tell you Amtrak and any cruise line would throw you off for this behavior.

Instead of asking why there are so many crazy people in this country, I ask why this country has so many people living on the edge, at such a tipping point for rageful outbursts.

Scudder - EXACTLY.

Frankly, if you haven't seen it in other countries, you simply haven't travelled much.
I could probably write a book about some of the crazy things I have seen. A personal favorite happened in Shenzen China. A previous flight had not departed as scheduled so the passengers from that flight were milling around waiting for the next flight. The airline decided to let the passengers from that flight get on the next flight without new seating assignments. When that flight was called, we all got sucked into a crush of folks trying to charge onto the plane. I had seen this coming so I was near the front, got on and sat in my seat. I then watched as the overflow from the previous flight fought (literally) with the crew over their seats. We delayed and delayed because these angry people would not sit. They confronted the pilot and continued to yell and scream at the crew. Eventually the flight took off with these people still standing in the aisles. Some of them continued to wander around in the plane throughout the entire flight to Shanghai. We landed with people still standing in the aisles. Then there was another crush to confront the pilots. It was literally insane. I recall speaking to the person seated next to me about how this would have been dealt with in the US or Europe.
Another time I grabbed a woman who was walking down the aisle past me just as we were about to touch down during a landing. I grabbed her and pulled her into my seat just as the wheels hit the tarmac. I can't even imagine what would have happened to her. The crew was appreciative. They were locked into their seats facing the cabin and unable to do anything in that moment.
Travel more, see more crazy. It's there. It's not just in the US. It also happens in Europe or wherever there are drunk Australians.

I don't have a comparison to people from other countries, but in the US there are a lot of people who think they're entitled to things they aren't getting.

Partly I think we just hear about it more because of social media. Everybody with a cellphone records and puts it online, whereas the airlines used to be able to cover it up. Same with enraged Karens on the street and in stores. And we watch because we enjoy them getting their comeuppance.

Partly I think we just hear about it more because of social media.
Everybody with a cellphone records and puts it online, whereas the
airlines used to be able to cover it up. Same with enraged Karens on
the street and in stores. And we watch because we enjoy them getting
their comeuppance.

This sort of stuff has basically always happened, just that nowadays it WILL be A) recorded, and B) reported.

Regarding recorded, everyone's had a video camera in their pocket for a while now, but fairly recently it's become much more than norm to pull it out and start recording when something weird happens.

Regarding the perception of degradation of behavior among the general populace, older generations have been on the record about a decline for hundreds of years. Historically many members of older generations have made the same claim based on anecdotal observations. Either we are consistently collapsing since the birth of modern society, or, from a sociological functionist point of view, there is a necessary regulatory effect of elders castigating the antisocial behavior of younger people they see around them.

Larger point being that older generations said the same thing about my generation that a lot of people in my generation are now saying about younger generations. Nothing new here.

In my opinion, maybe there's been some decline in behavior in general based on the more radical class bifurcation we have seen in the US in the past 50 years. But I think basically people are about as good and bad now as they were in the past, when their elders complained bitterly about their bad behavior as well. And maybe better in some ways - much less open bigoted behavior nowadays for instance, much less acquaintance rape, etc.

https://www.bbc.com/worklife/article/20171003-proof-that-people-have-always-complained-about-young-adults

It's really not that hard to understand. People, whether children or adults, model their behavior on what they observe in others. When their leaders and people in authority react and lash out with rage and irrational behavior when they feel they have been slighted, then that's what they pick up and emulate and assume that it's an okay way to behave. And the fact that such behavior is out there on public media for everyone to hear/see makes it seem more prevalent. Couple that with children not being taught how to manage their anger/rage (which are natural feelings) in approriate ways then you end up with a society with abnormal 'norms'. I agree with others that I've seen our societal norms in the US steadily eroding over the last 50 years or so. Let's be thankful that at least the airlines (and TSA) are able to keep major lethal weapons off the planes so that most (if not all) of these physical altercations do not end in fatalities. I feel safer flying than doing many ordinary day to day things like shopping or going to movies.

I agree with others that I've seen our societal norms in the US steadily eroding over the last 50 years or so

I wonder if our parents/grandparents didn't say the same thing. And whether the next generation won't say it in their turn. Yikes, what will it be like in 100 years? Maybe they will sedate us into hyper-space sleep and we'll dream comfortably in our lie-flat pods while they zap us to Milky Way back doors!

Nancy, you make an excellent point. Forget about those long-forgotten terrorists, TSA is there to protect us against our fellow passengers. 😟

Sorry but I'm Gen X and I don't remember crazy people while flying in my youth. As to society norms we have gotten worse. In my neighborhood, we knew out neighbors and if we were caught by the old lady across the street playing in her yard, she would call my parents and we would be punished.

My dad remembers in the 1940s when an older boy stole his Halloween candy, one of the neighbors catching the boy and bringing him back to his home and informing his parents about what he did. Now you can't say anything to anyone without fearing that you'll be shot.

Technology has helped immensely but it's also made us less willing to understand to our fellow neighbor. And my college nieces are also upset about the increasing freak out culture of the US. They are going to be the ones to deal with the fallout.

A news story in the last week reported the death of Jerry Springer, a one-time mayor of Cincinnati and subsequent host of sleazy TV shows. I’d forgotten about them, but the news reports showed footage of trashy people onstage, getting into physical fights over domestic disputes, all for big ratings and advertising revenue. Apparently he hosted his program for 30 years! That’s a lot of punches being thrown, as he stood by idly, with some security stagehands nearby to keep people from actually getting killed, while allowing just enough violence to entertain the audience. The airliner footage last night was reminiscent of the Springer show lowlights that made newscasts a few days ago.

Jerry Springer Shows from the 1990’s are “reality TV” today.

Sorry but I'm Gen X and I don't remember crazy people while flying in
my youth.

Same, and same. But in a lifetime of frequent flying, I've never in person seen anyone acting crazy on a plane. Now or back in the day. It certainly happened back in the day, but there weren't A) the phones pointed at it, and B) "reported" on line.

I am a bit fascinated with airplane freak outs, and the algorithms seem to know that. Since clicking on a few stories years ago, my news feed is positively barraged with these stories. So much so that I don't click anymore in hopes the gods of the internet eventually decide I'm not interested.

I do my best to not let that which Google etc select into my newsfeed me create my sense of what reality is.

If there are more air rage incidents and the like, I'd wager they correlate causally to relatively cheaper flights and more people crammed on them. Flying bus etc. Smashing together less filtered people into smaller spaces probably inevitably creates some dischord.

@Mister E
You're killing me. 😂

I've seen so many social media videos and stories about people getting tossed off planes, when I board a plane I feel like I do when I'm driving well within the speed limit and go by a speed trap... Which is to say, vaguely nervous and guilty. Now that I type that, I'm thinking nervous and guilty is not the way one wants to appear when boarding a plane...

If there is anything that traveling has taught me, it's that the human brain is the same all over the world

https://www.indiatimes.com/trending/wtf/turkish-airlines-flight-makes-emergency-landing-after-man-bites-attendants-finger-582240.html
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-11053665/Drunk-passenger-tried-kick-windows-mid-air-rampage-VA-flight-LA.html
https://www.scmp.com/news/china/society/article/3016517/thai-police-escort-chinese-man-flight-opening-emergency-exit

Yes, I have seen people do it.

Once on a flight from DC to London, I was sitting in Premium Economy when two women verbally fought over an overhead bin by me. It almost got physically until a FA stepped in a discovered that both women were seated in the back of Economy and so both had to take their luggage to the back of the plane.

I have also sat in front of two off-duty FAs and have heard their horror stories and they will tell you that being an FA now compared with even 20 years ago is harder.

People are just meaner. My family works in the health care industry and they can tell you that patients and their families will yell at nurses and families will get in their face. You can disbelieve but the world has gotten less polite.

heather, what you described is why it is quite difficult for us to hold onto new teachers.

If some of you think it's always been this way, talk to people who have been in the service industry for a long time, or anyone who regularly deals with the public. Your tune will change.

edit: I know two local police officers, and they are much more hesitant to intervene than they were 10 years ago. I'll let others connect the dots.

There basically are zero consequences for disruptive and disrespectful behavior in schools. None. Suspensions are discouraged and do no good. In-school suspension is a time to screw around and make the room supervisor miserable. Rules without consequences are suggestions. Unless parents start doing their jobs I don't have an answer.

I do think it's a bigger problem among Americans. It did not used to be this way.

Where you do see civility, it's not because the people there are born that way It's because their society's institutions have...

1) ...clear and reasonable rules for behavior, irrespective of your status or background
2) ...fair and predictable consequences for breaking the rules

American institutions have developed a distaste for enforcing rules, and certain new rules and practices are actively encouraging bad behavior. Sadly, everyone here now understands that you really can get away with almost anything.

School: The main lesson kids (and new teachers) learn today is that no matter what the rotten kids might say or do, punishments like suspension or expulsion are anachronisms; the offenders will be back to disrupt class in short order - otherwise, the system is depriving them of their right to an education and 2 square meals every day...

Retail: Walk out of Walgreens or Safeway with anything you like if it's worth $950 or less.

Roadways: Stop-sign running, tailgating, unsafe passing... it's BAD now. These were once offenses that came with repercussions, but they are now tolerated and are evolving into standard driver behavior. Speed kills, of course. But no matter... here you have to be doing 20-30 mph over the speed limit to get pulled over. The results are awful. Deaths per miles driven are way up. Just crossing the street on foot has gotten more and more dangerous every year. Cop presence and enforcement - and public safety - have been scaled way back because pulling drivers over is now equated with police brutality and discrimination.

A certain percentage of any population will not voluntarily care about their fellow human beings or observe the rules. So it's no surprise that the US gets bad behavior on airplanes and in airport security lines when we go out of our way accept, excuse, and encourage bad behavior everywhere else.

I roll my eyes at the stories of those people who feel self-righteous about keeping their seat assignments even if it means separating a family. Yes, I understand that families often should plan better but sometimes, that isn't possible. Unless I actually paid for a premium seat, I'm going to let a mom sit next to her kid. And if I'm in a premium row, chances are the people in that row have planned ahead. Of course, I will respond much more nicely if I'm asked nicely...

Its really the new opportunities for media to gather and present click bait type stories.. After airline deregulation, there was a noticeable drop in civility, but that has stayed at about the same level since 1979. What changed in the last 15 years is everyone has a cell phone camera now with video features. So recording an event, and putting it on social media is now more frequent. But the frequencies of events, placed in context to the vast increase in population, that now travels by air, has not changed: Its the same percentage of bad actors.

News cycles also have a way of focusing on certain subjects. Take plane crashes for instance. If there is one big event, then all of a sudden, it seems like planes are just falling out to the sky, the world over. There has been no change in the accident rate, which is incredibly low, but the perception becomes warped as news services scourer the world for any similar event, and then concentrate them, as if it is a new pattern.