Federal Aviation Administration Chief Steve Dickson stated Friday that “zero tolerance” policy will be maintained by the agency toward disruptive passengers, even though there have been fewer reports. last year’s record.

In 2005, the FAA adopted this policy. January 2021To stop disruptive passengers on board, they threatened to impose fines as high as $35,000 and possibly jail sentences. The FAA was urged by flight attendant unions to intervene due to an increase in incidents aboard.

Dickson spoke out in an interview for CNBC’s Squawk Box, saying that although there was a decrease in incidents over the year, it still happens at too high a rate. Dickson said, “We will keep the zero tolerance policy.”

The FAA logged a record 5,981 reports of unruly passenger behavior last year more than 70% of those cases tied to passengers who refused to wear masks on board and began 1,121 investigations. So far this year, it has received 961 reports of disruptive passengers, 635 of them tied to the mask mandate.

Dickson said that the agency’s public announcements helped to reduce such behaviors.

He said, “I have even been to TMZ to ensure we reach the public and make sure they understand that such behavior on planes is unacceptable and must stop.”

Despite repeated appeals from airlines for the repeal of the rule to be scrapped, the Biden administration extended its mask mandate into April 18, but has not said if it will lift it then.

Dickson explained that the FAA does not take position on the current public health protocols.

On Wednesday, airline chiefs wrote to President Joe Biden that the predeparture Covid and mask mandates for international travelers were “no longer in line with current epidemiological conditions.”

Dickson steps downHis five-year term ended March 31, just halfway through. Biden has not named a replacement for the Biden administration, which leaves the agency without an executive as it struggles to return air travel quickly after a pandemic slump of two years and ongoing reviews. Boeing aircraft.