Mike Burke | National News

Unruly Airline Passenger Punches Flight Attendant

The number of unruly passengers on U.S flights has taken off in 2021, with many more people boarding planes as the pandemic eases..

A flight attendant on a Southwest Airlines plane had two teeth knocked out  over the weekend after allegedly being punched by a passenger who had “repeatedly ignored standard inflight instructions,” according to an airline spokesman.

The Port of San Diego Harbor Police Department charged Vyvianna Quinonez, 28, with battery causing serious bodily injury in the incident, which was caught on video and later went viral.

The incident sparked widespread outrage, but for flight attendants it was just the latest example of an increase in travelers becoming disorderly and in some cases turning violent against those tasked with enforcing federal and airline rules.

Southwest Airlines said Friday it would delay its return to serving alcohol to passengers “given the recent uptick in industry-wide incidents of passenger disruptions inflight.”