Through December 21, 2021, the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) reported a total of 5,779 unruly passenger incidents this year. Of these incidents, the FAA has launched 1,054 investigations, which is approximately a 600% increase from the annual average of the previous twenty-five years.
Historically, factors such as overcrowding, cancellations, and narrow seats cause in-flight incidents. However, this year, the mask mandate, which the FAA instituted on February 1, has been the major factor causing the massive increase in incidents.