Masks and air rage: a qualitative content analysis using an interaction ritual framework

During the pandemic, there was an alarming escalation in reports of air rage in the United States. Prior to the pandemic, the yearly average of unruly airline passenger behaviors was around 100 incidents per year. However, after mask mandates were issued, 5981 unruly passenger incidents in the United States were reported by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) in 2021 alone. Therefore, we conducted a qualitative content analysis pertaining to mask-related incidents of air rage, to learn more about this recent social problem. We also applied an interaction ritual (IR) framework to the results of our analysis, to provide sociological insight concerning this issue. The goal of our exploratory research is to understand what it is about masks that cause certain groups of people to lash out violently while on airplanes. To date, little or no scholarly efforts have researched incidents of air rage in relation to masks. Therefore, our research provides a contribution by updating the literature on this topic.