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Airline passenger ordered to pay thousands of dollars in fuel costs after bad behavior diverts flight
An Australian man has been charged thousands of dollars in fuel charges and fines after his unruly behavior diverted a flight last year.
The 33-year-old man, who was not identified, was on a flight from Perth to Sydney on Sept. 25, 2023 when he started misbehaving, the Australian Federal Police said in a news release. Police did not specify how he was disrupting the flight, but said that his behavior “caused the flight to return to Perth.”
Because of the early return, the pilot had to dump fuel before landing, and the rest of the passengers had to be reaccomodated on a later flight.
The man was arrested by the Australian Federal Police after the flight landed, and charged with one count of disorderly behavior on an aircraft and one count of failure to comply with safety instruction.
He pleaded guilty to the charges last week.
He was fined $9,000 Australian dollars, or about $6,000 USD, the Australian Federal Police said. He was also charged about $5,600 USD, in “reparation costs to the airline to cover the cost of fuel from the flight.”
Australian Federal Police acting superintendent Shona Davis said that she hopes this outcome will dissuade others from acting out while flying.
“This incident should serve as a warning that criminal behaviour on board can come at a heavy cost to the offender,” Davis said. “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.”
Earlier this year, a British man was charged over $20,000 for outbursts on a flight from London, England to Newark, New Jersey. The flight was diverted to Bangor, Maine after Alexander Michael Dominic MacDonald’s argument with his girlfriend escalated into him yelling at a flight attendant. MacDonald eventually became “verbally and physically aggressive,” CBS News previously reported, and had to be restrained with flex cuffs as the flight diverted.
In 2022, the FAA announced it was enacting a zero-tolerance policy against unruly passengers.
“Behaving dangerously on a plane will cost you; that’s a promise,” said Acting FAA Administrator Billy Nolen at the time. “Unsafe behavior simply does not fly and keeping our Zero Tolerance policy will help us continue making progress to prevent and punish this behavior.”
Tupperware and some of its subsidiaries filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection, the once-iconic food container maker said in a statement late Tuesday.
The company has suffered from dwindling sales following a surprise surge during the COVID-19 pandemic, when legions of people stuck at home tried their hands at cooking, which increased demand for Tupperware’s colorful plastic containers with flexible airtight seals.
A post-pandemic rise in costs of raw materials and shipping, along with higher wages, also hurt Tupperware’s bottom line.
Last year, it warned of “substantial doubt” about its ability to keep operating in light of its poor financial position.
“Over the last several years, the Company’s financial position has been severely impacted by the challenging macroeconomic environment,” president and CEO Laurie Ann Goldman said in a statement announcing the bankruptcy filing.
“As a result, we explored numerous strategic options and determined this is the best path forward,” Goldman said.
The company said it would seek court approval for a sale process for the business to protect its brand and “further advance Tupperware’s transformation into a digital-first, technology-led company.”
The Orlando, Florida-based firm said it would also seek approval to continue operating during the bankruptcy proceedings and would continue to pay its employees and suppliers.
“We plan to continue serving our valued customers with the high-quality products they love and trust throughout this process,” Goldman said.
The firm’s shares were trading at $0.5099 Monday, well down from $2.55 in December last year.
Tupperware said it had implemented a strategic plan to modernize its operations and drive efficiencies to ignite growth following the appointment of a new management team last year.
“The Company has made significant progress and intends to continue this important transformation work.”
In its filing with the U.S. Bankruptcy Court for the District of Delaware, Tupperware listed assets of between $500 million and $1 billion and liabilities of between $1 billion and $10 billion.
The filing also said it had between 50,000 and 100,000 creditors.
Tupperware lost popularity with consumers in recent years and an initiative to gain distribution through big-box chain Target failed to reverse its fortunes.
The company’s roots date to 1946, when chemist Earl Tupper “had a spark of inspiration while creating molds at a plastics factory shortly after the Great Depression,” according to Tupperware’s website.
“If he could design an airtight seal for plastic storage containers, like those on a paint can, he could help war-weary families save money on costly food waste.”
Over time, Tupper’s containers became popular that many people referred to any plastic food container as Tupperware. And people even threw “Tupperware parties” in their homes to sell the containers to friends and neighbors.
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