Passenger must pay over $7K in fuel costs after bad behaviour diverts flight

An Australian man is on the hook for thousands of dollars after his poor behaviour on a plane required a domestic flight to dump fuel and return to its starting point.

In what Australian officials hope will serve as a warning to other potentially unruly travellers, the unnamed man has been ordered to pay more than AUS$8,630 (C$7,870) in reparation fuel costs to the airline.

Australian Federal Police on Monday said the 33-year-old traveller has also been fined an additional AUS$9,000 (C$8,200) by Perth Magistrates Court.

Officials did not specify what kind of unruly behaviour caused the September 2023 flight from Perth to Sydney to turn around. When the plane landed again in Perth, the flight was cancelled.

The man was charged with disorderly behaviour on an aircraft and failure to comply with safety instructions. He pleaded guilty to both charges last week.

Acting Supt. Shona Davis of the Australian Federal Police said the incident “should serve as a warning that criminal behaviour on board can come at a heavy cost to the offender.”

“It’s far simpler to obey the directions of airline staff than cause unnecessary issues, which can end up hitting you in the hip pocket,” she warned. “The AFP is committed to ensuring all travellers have a safe journey from their departure through to their arrival at their destination.”

Other passengers onboard the rerouted plane were re-accommodated on a later flight.

In June of last year, the International Air Transport Association (IATA) reported a rise in poor passenger behaviour on commercial flights.

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The association said data from 2022 showed there was one unruly incident reported for every 568 flights that year. The most common issues included non-compliance, verbal abuse and intoxication.

The Australian man is not the only person to face a high fine for acting out on an airplane.

In 2023, an Arizona court ordered an American Airlines passenger to pay US$40,823 (about C$55,400) after the traveller illegally brought their own alcohol onboard, attempted to smoke marijuana in the plane’s lavatory and sexually assaulted a flight attendant.