Is the United States Becoming a Nation of Jerks?

There is a lack of grace and kindness today in the simple ways that people treat one another. And, for some reason, that lack of grace and kindness is more pronounced at 35,000 feet.

In a typical year, the FAA investigates around 200 reports of bad behavior in the friendly skies.  But, in 2021 something changed. There were over 5,000 reports of unruly passengers. 

Which begs the question, what the hell is happening on airplanes? Let’s unpack this and maybe we can learn something together.

I grew up in an era where flying was more civilized. An era when flying was treated as a tremendous luxury. An era when people dressed up in their Sunday best to sit in the Tourist section and chain-smoke Parliament cigarettes like it was their job. The second-hand smoke lingered heavily in the air-but nobody complained. There was no wi-fi network. No movies on demand. No lay-flat seats. It was the first time in your life you had to actually wear a seatbelt. But despite all that, flying was still a privilege.

 But those were the salad days of the airline industry. Things are different today.  

Some passengers have simply become verbally abusive and physically violent.  A recent survey of almost 5,000 US flight attendants validates this impression. Over 85 percent of all flight attendants dealt with unruly passengers in 2021. A little over half of respondents reported dealing with at least five incidents in the past twelve months. One in five reported experiencing a physical incident.  

So why is it such a bad idea to harass a flight attendant?  Aren’t they just a glorified waiter/waitress? 

No. There is no Federal authority that governs how you act in a restaurant.  Federal aviation regulations state that \”no person may assault, threaten, intimidate, or interfere with a crew member in the performance of the crewmember\’s duties aboard an aircraft being operated.\” If you’re dumb enough to interfere with a crew member’s duties it can result in fines up to $37,000. And, if you’re dumb enough to assault a crew member, you’ll find yourself bunking in the big house for up to 20 years.  Where the guards won’t be as polite as flight attendants. And the premium drink service consists of toilet wine.  

In late 2021, the FAA referred 37 of its most violent assaults directly to the Department of Justice for federal prosecution. 

Flight Attendants report that most incidents can fit into a handful of categories: masks, booze, delays, and cancellations. In light of this new aggression, at least two major airlines have banned the sale of alcohol on board.  

So why are people so darn irritable these days?  One theory is based on proximity. It holds that if you cram 200 people into a metal tube and hurl them across the sky at 500 mph they may get cranky when things don’t go exactly as planned. Alaska Airlines canceled 10% of its flights for the remainder of January, citing an “unprecedented” number of employees calling in sick. But, we’ve been dealing with cancellations and delays for years.

The bigger issue is, of course, Covid.  

Check out this lady going full Karen on an 80-year-old man who pulled his mask down to eat. (Note that she does not have a mask on). She was arrested by the FBI upon deplaning in Atlanta. Nice work, Karen.

People on house arrest in lockdown states have been largely stuck at home. Much of this time has been spent on Social Media and watching hyper-partisan cable news. You can read about this in my recent article The Buying and Selling of Angst, Anger, and Envy.  Those echo chambers have dramatically increased the rage factor in the average human.  That pent-up rage sometimes leads to anger and violence, particularly when people are tired and locked in a hot, cramped, metal tube together for hours. Maybe in addition to removing alcohol from flights, they ought to remove the cable news channels and replace them with low-stress channels like Animal Planet and HGTV.  Nobody ever gets angry after an episode of The Crocodile Hunter.  

According to an American Psychology Association survey, people are still extremely stressed over Covid. 79% of Gen-Z adults (18-24) indicated changes in their behavior as a result of stress.  These changes included altering eating habits, procrastinating or neglecting responsibilities, or altering physical activity levels. It’s double that of the Baby Boomers (ages 57-74). 

Apparently, some people are so jacked up over Covid that they can’t even make basic decisions like what to wear or what to eat. 

Nearly half of all Millennials (ages 25-40) report an inability to make basic decisions. Almost half of parents have the same issue.  

Now pile on to these findings that the country is taking a collective face plant:

• A dozen US cities broke their all-time murder records in 2021.

• The average price for a gallon of gas nationally is around $3.40. A year ago, it was $2.28/gallon. A gallon of milk is now more expensive than a gallon of gasoline.

• Putin has amassed 100,000 troops on the border with Ukraine, just for kicks.

• Fentanyl, not Covid, is now the leading cause of death in the United States for ALL citizens between the ages of 18-45.

• Covid just won’t die.

All these statistics and leading indicators are putting people at DEFCON 5 on the stressometer. Mentions of the f-word, shit and asshole, or related variations, rose 41% from full-year 2019 to 2021 through the end of November on Facebook and 27% on Twitter.

And, that stress is making it’s way to the friendly skies. What people might typically brush-off as an inconvenience is, in fact, the tipping point in their overall frustration.  

That leads us to the Ass-Clown Index. When people feel entitled, they tend to be Ass-Clowns.  (See also: bonehead, fat-head, ass-monkey, ass-hat, wanker, moron, etc.). That arrogance leads people to ask flight crews questions like, “Do you know who I am?” And, that question is rarely a de-escalator in a conflict. That question can lead to a flight attendant grabbing the PA and asking passengers if anyone knows the man sitting in 14F, cause he can’t remember who he is. (I made up the Ass-Clown Index.  It’s not a real thing.) 

Despite all the fancy-pants research on Covid and Stress, I think the Ass-Clown Index is mostly to blame.  

As if my current difficulty is somehow someone else’s fault.  It’s not. It’s like screaming at the car in front of you in traffic for making you late for a meeting. Even though you left 20 minutes later than you should have. 

Just last week in Atlanta, one man shot another man in a movie theater.  The gunman was angry about where the victim was sitting in the theater. An argument between the two men got heated, and the gunman opened fire, officials say. It’s probably a good thing movie theaters don’t have flight attendants and airplanes don’t allow guns. 

As you get older you realize that the world is full of lists. And people who wanna sell you stuff always wanna tell you that you’re on their list.  There’s typically a “congratulations!” involved, as if you’ve really accomplished something grand.  The airlines mastered this with their Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh frequent flyer lists. But you also learn that there are good lists and there are naughty lists.  You rarely get congratulated for making the naughty list.  

With all this unfriendly behavior in the friendly skies, the good people at Delta Air Lines have created a naughty list.  

“At Delta, we now have more than 1,600 people on our “no fly” list, and we’ve submitted more than 600 banned names to the FAA in 2021 as part of their Special Emphasis Enforcement Program.”

In addition, airlines have started to share their “no-fly” list with other airlines.  They’re creating the “mother of all no-fly lists”. Kinda hard to splain to your boss that can’t fly to any more meetings cause you accosted a crew member who was out of tomato juice. 

The Ass-Clown Index is a symptom of a larger diagnosis. Maybe you and I can do something about that diagnosis. Let’s recommit ourselves, you and I, to treating all people with kindness and respect. Especially those who are working hard to take care of us and keep us safe.

So what about you? Have you experienced an Ass-Clown lately? If so, I’d like to hear about it below. I love hearing from my readers and I promise you’ll hear back from me.

And, one more thing, do me a favor and share this story with a friend, right after you leave a comment below.

Connect with me on Twitter, Facebook, my Facebook Group, Pinterest, Medium,Instagram, and Goodreads.