Dartford MP Gareth Johnson is introducing a bill in Parliament to ban violent airline passengers from flying.
The Aviation Banning Orders (Disruptive Passengers) Bill will be introduced to Parliament as a Ten Minute Rule Bill on Wednesday, May 24.
The aim of the bill is to give Courts the power to ban people who are violent on a flight from all airlines for a fixed period of time.
This bill comes at a time when the aviation industry has seen an increase in the number of disruptive passengers being reported.
Between 2017 and 2019 the number of disruptive passenger reports were in the 300s, during the pandemic years of 2020 and 2021 this number dropped, only to rise in 2022 with airlines reporting 1028 disruptive passengers. While the number of violent incidents on aeroplanes are increasing, the figure of 1028 is arrived at due to one operator opting to report all incidents where they did not do so previously.
Mr Johnson said: “I am introducing this bill to ensure people who are violent on airplanes can be banned from being a passenger for a period of time.
“At the moment violence is very rare, but if you introduce this legislation, this will make it even less likely to happen.
“It is right people can be banned from driving, they can be banned from being a company director and they can be banned from football matches.
“The same should apply for people who behave violently on planes. This power exists in other countries and should be available here too.
“This bill would act as a deterrent and ensure those who are violent, particularly towards cabin staff, cannot fly again until their ban expires.”
Mr Johnson said it would be up to the courts to determine the length of the ban.
He added: “At the moment an airline can ban a passenger from its company, but that doesn’t stop that person using a different airline. This is because airlines are not able to share passenger information due to data protection laws.
“This bill would ensure that a person is banned from all airlines. The message must be: If you are violent towards staff and passengers on an airline you are not going to be able to fly.”