Are passengers solely to blame for air-rage? – National & International News – THU 1Jul2021

What’s behind the spike in air-rage incidents? Iran wants guarantee US will not pull out of nuke deal again.

NATIONAL NEWS

What’s behind the spike in air-rage incidents?

Many of us will have seen the numerous “air-rage” videos making the rounds on social media. In one infamous incident, a female passenger belted a flight attendant in a mask dispute, knocking out two of her teeth. More recently, an unruly male Delta passenger had to be wrestled into submission outside the cockpit.

While these incidents are shocking, one might be forgiven for dismissing them as one-offs. But according to the Federal Aviation Administration, that is not the case. This year, the agency has recorded more than 3,100 reports of unruly air passengers, 487 of which were serious enough to require investigation. Compare that to the average of 147 such investigations each year over the past decade.

Why now?

The rise in cases has even surprised experts who have studied air-rage for years. The increasingly cramped, inhospitable conditions in economy class have steadily ratcheted up tensions in recent decades. Passengers being herded into crowded cabins after months of isolation undoubtedly raises the stakes.

Moreover, tensions over mask requirements on airlines have sparked some of the worst confrontations. And once someone gets their phone out and starts recording, aggressors only tend to escalate. Passengers consuming alcohol at high altitudes also experience twice the intoxicating effect as they do on the ground. The combined effect is a psychological powder-keg of tension and vulnerability.

What are the airlines doing?

In response to the rise in violence, the FAA adopted a zero-tolerance policy in January. Since then, the agency has issued $563,800 in fines. They recently set a new record, fining the unruly male Delta passenger $52,500. But these have done little to tame the problem, and the number and severity of incidents have only grown. 

Many airlines have also stopped alcohol service on their flights altogether, while some are only selling it in business and first class.

But the passengers themselves cannot take all the blame. The airlines themselves have done little to make flying coach, or flying in general, a more pleasant experience. Just the opposite in fact.  

Cancelations – delays – disruptions

Despite receiving $billions in taxpayer dollars to keep their act together during the pandemic, nearly every major US carrier has been canceling or delaying 100s of flights across the US. Most carriers have blamed equipment and personnel issues.

Even the lavish handout from the government wasn’t enough to save jobs in the airline industry. Airlines laid off hundreds of thousands of experienced workers, and are now scrambling to hire new ones. This is includes giving thousands of experienced pilots early retirement. Other pilots were furloughed and were not able to keep their skills up to snuff, and so are having to play catch-up now. 

One need only read the angry comments from passengers on Twitter whose flights were delayed and canceled. When one factors in the fact that tickets are pricier now than they’ve been in years, it’s clear that mask-rage and alcohol aren’t the only things contributing to passenger disgruntlement. 

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INTERNATIONAL NEWS

Iran demands guarantees US will not pull out of nuke deal again

The recent election of hardliner Ebrahim Raisi to the presidency of Iran has increased the urgency in Vienna where negotiators hope to reinstate the nuclear deal. International observers fear the window is closing to reach a deal before Raisi installs his cabinet, or before Iran attains an important nuclear threshold.

French envoy to the UN Nicolas De Rivière says, “The parameters and the benefits of a return to the agreement will not be the same after a certain period of time”. He explains that just in recent months, Iran’s uranium enrichment has jumped from 20% to 60%. 60% is well beyond the threshold needed for any peaceful civilian application. 90% enrichment is the minimum for a nuclear weapon.

After three months, the talks have succeeded in negotiating many of the deal’s key agreements. But some major sticking points still need to be hammered out. One of these is Iran demands that the US lift sanctions before Iran ramps down its nuclear activities, while the US is making the reverse demand. The other is that Iran is demanding some guarantee that the US won’t be able to unilaterally pull out of the deal, as former President Trump did in 2018. The Iranian side argues that without such a guarantee, international investors will be hesitant to restart business with Iran.

This poses a problem for the American side. Legally speaking, one American administration cannot irrevocably bind its successors to uphold its agreements. Nor would outside enforcement of the guarantee be acceptable. Requiring permission from the UN to withdraw from the deal would leave the US at the mercy of a Russian veto.

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