Federal Judge Orders Unruly Passenger to Pay Nearly $40,000 for Disrupting Flight in 2022
A federal judge ordered a Hawaii woman to pay nearly $40,000 in restitution for causing a disturbance aboard an American Airlines flight in 2022, which forced the plane to land amid an altercation with the crew.
Calya Farris pleaded guilty on Sept. 12 to federal charges, alleging she interfered with the flight crew and impeded their ability to perform routine duties while in the air.
U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Arizona said Farris used profanity and threatened the flight crew and passengers during the tirade.
Farris could have received nearly four months in jail for the incident, but U.S. District Judge Susan Brnovich instead sentenced the 29-year-old to time served, meaning Farris will spend three years on supervised release.
Under the terms of the sentence, Farris is also not allowed to travel on any commercial flight for the next three years unless she receives prior approval from the government.
The $38,952 Farris will pay is intended to cover costs the airline incurred as part of the delay she caused.
The flight took off from Phoenix to Honolulu on Feb. 13, 2022, but the disruption in the cabin prompted the pilot to turn back to Arizona, creating a backlog that re-routed several planes and caused numerous delays.
The episode adds to a surge of flight disruptions in recent months involving passengers experiencing panic or mental health episodes.
In 2021, there were nearly 6,000 such documented incidents, which surged more than 400 percent from 2019, when the number of in-flight disruptions totaled about 1,100, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.
The agency also reports 1,820 cases of unruly passengers throughout 2023.
Back in July, marketing executive Tiffany Gomas disrupted an American Airlines flight from Dallas-Fort Worth to Orlando, which led her to issue an apology the following month, saying, “I should have been in control of my emotions.”