Unruly passengers on planes can face fines and other consequences — but it's not clear how many reports lead to punishment

The rapid growth in the number of unruly, disruptive or downright violent passengers aboard planes was — and still is — a hot topic in the airline business.

And the number of incidents was — and still is — alarming. Cellphone videos taken by other passengers show onboard fights, flight attendants being assaulted, other passengers being punched, offenders often duct taped to their seats and law enforcement escorting passengers off planes. Many incidents result in flights being diverted.

In 2021, the number of these incidents were north of 6,000. In 2022, while the numbers dropped, they are still more than 10 times higher than in decades past. In 1995, there were 146 reports of unruly airline passengers. So far in 2022, the Federal Aviation Administration has received 1,944 reports.