'The data from the past year says it all: It's past time for the DOJ to ban reckless passengers from commercial flights to send the message that such conduct will not be tolerated.' | Opinion
Dean Obeidallah, a former attorney, is the host of SiriusXM radio's daily program"The Dean Obeidallah Show" and a columnist for The Daily Beast. Follow him @DeanObeidallah. The opinions expressed in this commentary are his own. View more opinion articles on CNN.
Look! Up in the sky: It's a bird ... it's a plane ... it's an unruly passenger assaulting a flight attendant. That sums up 2021 for many flight crews across the US, given that last year was the worst on record for the number of unruly passengers. Overall, the Federal Aviation Administration logged a startling 5,981 cases of unruly passenger behavior in 2021, with close to 72% of incidents stemming from mask mandates on planes. As a result, the FAA notes it initiated nearly 1,100 investigations into unruly passengers last year, more than in the previous seven years combined.