<p>WASHINGTON — Federal regulators are continuing to pursue large penalties against a few airline passengers accused of disrupting flights.</p>
<p>The Federal Aviation Administration said Monday that it will seek fines totaling more than $100,000 against four passengers on recent flights, including a penalty of $52,500 against a man who was arrested after trying to open the cockpit door and striking a flight attendant in the face.</p>
<p>Airlines have reported a spate of troubling incidents in recent months, many of them involving passengers who appear intoxicated or refuse to wear face masks — that’s still a federal requirement even after health officials relaxed guidelines around mask wearing last week. </p>
<p>The FAA says it has received more than 1,300 complaints from airlines about disruptive passengers this year. The agency says it is taking a zero-tolerance stance against unruly passengers — instead of counseling them, it is going straight to enforcement actions including civil penalties.</p>
<p>In the most recent cases, the most egregious occurred on a Delta Air Lines flight in December from Honolulu to Seattle. The FAA said a man tried to open the cockpit door and assaulted a flight attendant, striking him twice — the second time after he broke free from plastic handcuffs. The FAA said police boarded the plane in Seattle and took him into custody.</p>
<p>The FAA proposed a $27,000 penalty against a man on a New Year’s Day flight aboard Southwest Airlines who yelled and said he had a bomb and would blow up the plane. The pilots made an unplanned landing in Oklahoma City, where the man was arrested. </p>
<p>Two passengers on other flights face potential fines for not covering their mouth and nose with a mask. The FAA has announced more than a dozen instances of large potentials for misbehaving passengers in recent weeks. </p>
<p>None of the passengers were identified. They have 30 days to protest to the FAA.</p>
