There’s a term in the English language called FAFO. It’s an acronym for “F**k Around & Find Out.” Although it’s been used more and more in the past couple of years, the term has actually been around for quite a while – GenXers have long used it as a warning: “actions have consequences, so choose yours wisely.”
I’m sure that at some time in our lives, each of us have partaken in something considered to be FAFO. Maybe it was when you were told not to stay out late, and you did anyway, and were grounded for a week. Maybe you drank more than you should have, drove home and smashed into another car, thereby earning yourself a DUI.
And for some unruly airline passengers from South America, they just got slapped with a lawsuit where they’re being sued for US $90,000.
In the U.S., you’ll read about passengers suing airlines all the time. It could be because they didn’t get a refund for a flight that didn’t happen, or they claim there was a discrimination incident on board. But you rarely read about U.S.-based airlines suing passengers for, say, being unruly.
Instead, the FAA will levy fines on them.
In 2023, for example, there were 2,075 reports of unruly passengers. 512 investigations were initiated, as were 402 enforcements. And the FAA wound up levying $7.5 million in fines. From the FAA:
But that’s us in the U.S. In other countries, airlines are beginning to have no issues with suing passengers who become so unruly that it winds up costing the airline money.
You probably already read about how Ryanair is suing a passenger for €15,000 ($15,470 USD), after they disrupted a flight.
From Fodor’s:
The official statement from the airline provided details about the incident, which occurred in April last year on a flight from Dublin, Ireland, to Lanzarote, Spain. Due to the passenger’s behavior, the flight was diverted to Porto and eventually delayed for a day. The airline had to make overnight arrangements for 160 passengers, and according to their spokesperson, passenger expenses, accommodation, and landing costs made the airline €15,000 poorer.
Welp, taking a page from Ryanair’s playbook, Avianca is suing a couple for $90,000 in damages due to their disruptive behavior on a flight.
PC: Avianca.com
Back in July 2024, an Avianca flight going from Bogotá, Colombia to São Paulo, Brazil was forced to return to Bogotá after an issue with a passenger’s mobile phone battery, which had begun to heat up and eventually suffered a thermal runaway as a result.
*** Thermal runaway: a battery enters an uncontrollable, self-heating state, leading to overheating, fire, explosion, or failure. It’s a chain reaction that typically happens when the battery is damaged, resulting in it generating more heat than it can dissipate.
Normally, an overheated battery is just an unlucky occurrence (and is why lithium batteries can only be transported in personal or carry-on bags; not checked). But HOW this particular battery overheated is the issue.
Apparently, the two passengers in question became unruly and began fighting with each other during the flight. One of them threw the phone, which resulted in the battery overheating.
Well yeah, that’ll do it.
Anyway, the flight crew decided to make a precautionary return of the A320 to Bogotá (BOG). But they first had to enter a series of holding procedures in the vicinity of the airport so the plane could burn off fuel before landing.
The flight then landed without further incident, about 3 ½ hours after its initial departure. Airline personnel handed the two passengers to the authorities after the flight’s arrival.
There have been reports that the interior of the plane was damaged, but it’s unclear if that was because of the damaged battery or because of the couple who were fighting. Either way, there was damage, plus, of course, the flight severely inconvenienced all 161 passengers on board. So the airline is suing.
“In Avianca, the safety of our passengers and crew is our top priority. Such incidents are unacceptable, so we are taking all the legal measures at our disposal to hold the culprits accountable and ensure that such acts have the respective consequences. We reiterate our call on the competent authorities to strengthen the harshest sanctions on disruptive passengers who with their conduct affect other passengers and crew.” – Captain Juan Esteban Kappaz Saad, head of Avianca flight operations (translated)
FAFO indeed.
And hopefully it’ll be a lesson to others, as well.
Want to comment on this post? Great! Read this first to help ensure it gets approved.
Want to sponsor a post, write something for Your Mileage May Vary, or put ads on our site? Click here for more info.
Like this post? Please share it! We have plenty more just like it and would love it if you decided to hang around and sign up to get emailed notifications of when we post.
Whether you’ve read our articles before or this is the first time you’re stopping by, we’re really glad you’re here and hope you come back to visit again!
This post first appeared on Your Mileage May Vary
2 comments
I dearly wish this would become standard practice in the USA as long as passengers could also sue the airlines in the interest of parity.
Long as it’s across the board for All rift raft.