Unruly (Disruptive) Passengers: Problems of Counteraction

Abstract

Disruptive behavior of passengers that poses a real danger for air transportation is recognized as a serious problem both in Russia and abroad. A considerable volume of information on this problem is being accumulated, while international and national law systems are developing a complex of specific normative legal means of counteracting such behavior. As the number of legal instruments is growing, the number of debatable issues is also increasing, and they need to be settled at the international and national levels, as well as at the level of individual companies. Specifically, they include: the introduction of «zero tolerance» towards intoxicated persons (alcohol, drug, substance intoxication); specifying the rules of sobriety examination, strengthening control over the sale of alcohol in duty-free zones or the prohibition of such sale; changing the rules for keeping a register of persons guilty of air offences, designating a unified authorized body and providing for a possibility to enforce pre-trial restrictions on passengers; developing legal approaches to using airline security services to ensure the safety of flights; determining and institutionalizing the mechanism of compensating the damage inflicted by an undisciplined passenger on an airline or on other persons; developing the rules of qualifying crimes under Art. 213 and 267.1 of the Criminal Code of the Russian Federation, or raising the question of de-criminalizing the latter. The authors present a statistical description of disruptive behavior of aircraft passengers, outline the key stages in the development of international legislation in this sphere, analyze most common ways of counteracting undisciplined passengers and offer their suggestions on improving the existing approaches to preventing disruptive behavior of passengers using international experience.