A Spirit Airlines passenger has been arrested at Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport (FLL) after allegedly attacking one of the gate agents. As reported by 7News Miami, the incident is believed to have started when the passenger arrived at the gate late to the gate and was subsequently denied boarding.
Police were called to the scene, and the passenger in question, William Patterson, was taken away. They have since been released on bail, facing charges of assault. The incident took place on October 27th, although the flight details and time of the incident have not been released.
Simple Flying has reached out to Spirit Airlines for comment.
Worrying increase in disruptive passenger incidents
Data from the International Air Transport Association (IATA) shows that the number of disruptive passenger incidents increased significantly from one every 835 flights in 2021 to one every 568 flights in 2022. The most common non-compliance incidents include the smoking of cigarettes and vapes, failing to store cabin baggage when required, and passengers consuming their own alcohol onboard.
While incidents of physical abuse remained very rare, they saw a sharp increase of 61% year-on-year. IATA is continuing to tackle the issue by strengthening regulations around the world and working with industry partners on the ground, such as airport bars and duty-free shops, to prevent incidents from escalating in the first place. The Deputy Director General of IATA, Conrad Clifford, shared his dismay at the statistics, saying,
“The increasing trend of unruly passenger incidents is worrying. Passengers and crew are entitled to a safe and hassle-free experience onboard. For that, passengers must comply with crew instructions. While our professional crews are well trained to manage unruly passenger scenarios, it is unacceptable that rules in place for everyone’s safety are disobeyed by a small but persistent minority of passengers. There is no excuse for not following the instructions of the crew.”
Spirit Airlines at Fort Lauderdale
Fort Lauderdale-Hollywood International Airport is Spirit Airlines’ main operating base, from where it serves over 65 destinations. Tulum International Airport (TQO) will become the latest addition to Spirit Airlines’ route network when the carrier begins flying daily to the Mexican airport in March 2024 from both Fort Lauderdale and Orlando (MCO). Spirit Airlines will be one of only two US carriers to serve the Mexican airport, the other being Delta Air Lines, which will operate daily flights from its Atlanta (ATL) hub.
Spirit Airlines is currently the seventh-largest airline in North America by passengers carried, and the largest ultra-low-cost carrier. According to ch-aviation, the airline currently has 208 Airbus A320 family aircraft in its fleet, with an average age of 7.2 years old. Spirit Airlines is set to grow its fleet further over the coming years as it takes delivery of the 42 A320neos and 71 A321neos that it has on order.
Source: simpleflying.com