Since the beginning of the year, the Federal Aviation Administration has reported a sharp uptick in the number of passengers behaving badly.
In a typical year, the Federal Aviation Administration logs between 100 and 200 incidents. In the first three months of 2021, it reported a whopping 1300, despite the fact that the number of passengers was still well below normal levels.
It¡¯s difficult to account for this recent uptick, but it¡¯s hard to dispute that air rage has become a growing problem over the past few decades. The usual explanations ¡ª shrinking legroom, alcohol and flight delays ¡ª have merit. But these are arguably overshadowed by a decades-long trend: the transformation of air travel from an elite prerogative to a service that divides passengers into haves and have nots.
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