Buttigieg: No-fly list "should be on the table" for unruly passengers

Transportation Secretary Pete Buttigieg told CNN's "State of the Union" Sunday said that a federal no-fly list for violent airplane passengers "should be on the table."

Why it matters: Flight crews have to handle hostile passengers at unprecedented rates as travel rebounds to pre-pandemic levels, with the Federal Aviation Administration reporting almost 5,000 incidents of unruly passengers this year.

• Last week, a flight attendant was hospitalized after a passenger attacked her, breaking several bones in her face.

What they're saying: "Look, it is completely unacceptable to mistreat, abuse or even disrespect flight crews," Buttigieg told host Dana Bash.

• "There is absolutely no excuse for this kind of treatment of flight crews in the air or any of the essential workers from bus drivers to air crews, who get people to where they need to be," he added.
• "We will continue to look at all options to make sure that flight crews and passengers are safe."

The big picture: Earlier this year, the FAA announced a new "zero tolerance" policy after seeing a spike in passengers disrupting flights with threatening or violent behavior.

• Enforcing mask mandates and dealing with drunk passengers ranked among the top causes for escalated interactions.