Reducing and Managing Disruptive and Unruly Behavior in Airports: A Guide (2025)
Chapter: 5 Conclusion
CHAPTER 5
Conclusion
It is difficult to fully comprehend the scope, magnitude, and impact of unruly behavior in airports because of the complex societally and environmentally driven root causes, and the breadth of the impact on myriad agencies and stakeholders in the commercial aviation system. Research has validated that this phenomenon is a significant issue faced by airports of all sizes and constitutes a serious concern for airports and their communities.
Reducing and managing disruptive and unruly behavior in airports requires a programmatic systems approach that is multifaceted, proactive, coordinated, and supported by interdisciplinary expertise and measures to track effectiveness. Tenets of this holistic approach include awareness, prevention, effective crisis intervention, specialized response, enforcement, deterrence, and assessment measures. Understanding the nexus between the stimulating airport environment, mental health impacts, and disruptive and unruly behavior is essential to advocate for facility design that employs environmental features and biophilic design to promote positive emotion, wellness, and tranquility.
Data collection and analysis are necessary components of the assessment process to determine the effectiveness of interconnected strategies, programs, policies, and regulations designed to mitigate the frequency and severity of unruly behavior incidents in airports. Leadership advocacy at the airport and a shared unity of purpose across the airport community and partner agencies, including federal agencies, law enforcement, mental health specialists, and criminal justice professionals, are critical to implementing an effective systems approach with integrated strategies and tools to reverse this trend.
Airports can prevent and mitigate unruly incidents through enhanced aviation worker training, clear policies and procedures, well-designed awareness campaigns and support programs, and improved facility design and services. When an unruly incident occurs, these proactive measures will support the response and intervention through established communication channels, appropriately dispatched responses, and clear understanding of jurisdictional impacts on response. The airport can then support investigation and prosecution of the incident by collecting data to track trends in unruly incidents and conduct RCAs. Continuous evaluation and adaptation of these strategies is essential to address evolving challenges in air travel safety and security.
Aviation is not the only travel industry to experience an increase in unruly incidents in the last decade. Many travel and leisure industries experienced a significant increase in reports of unruly behavior in 2021. Examples of responses to unruly behaviors by an air carrier, a cruise line, bus agencies, and the train and rail industry are presented in Appendix F.
Cooperation and communication with airport stakeholders are critical to addressing common root causes, dispatching appropriate response to incidents, and ensuring consistent accountability. The airport can work closely with their stakeholders (airport, air carrier, tenant, concessionaire, service provider managers, and employees), the airport law enforcement agency, federal partners, and local governments to ensure strategies to address unruly behavior evolve to address new demands and threats.
