Passengers who have been convicted of assaulting airline crew members or their fellow travelers may be barred from boarding commercial flights nationwide, thanks to a bipartisan proposal currently making its way through Congress.

A bipartisan group of lawmakers is reviving efforts to create a national no-fly list that would ground unruly passengers who have been charged with physical assault or intimidation aboard an aircraft. The “Protection from Abusive Passengers Act” would prohibit those travelers from boarding any commercial airline until they are removed from the ban list.

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“It doesn’t matter who you are or where you work — everyone deserves to be treated respectfully and with dignity,” said Rep. Eric Swalwell (D-CA). “Unfortunately, too many of our pilots, flight attendants, and crew members are dealing with unacceptable abuse from passengers — everything from kicking to spitting to biting. Our bill will ground the handful of bad actors who continue to travel while protecting airline employees and the traveling public.”

The legislation would allow the Transportation Security Administration to determine the length of bans on a case-by-case basis and would be separate from the FBI’s no-fly list, which typically targets individuals who are suspected of being connected to terrorist organizations.

The bill would provide guidelines for how to notify passengers they have been placed on the list and how they can appeal the designation, according to the legislation.

The proposal comes in response to a rising number of unruly passenger incidents over the last several years. Airlines reported a record number of such incidents in 2021, particularly after the United States implemented a federal mask mandate for all passengers.

Those numbers have dropped since that rule was rescinded last year, but unruly passenger cases remain 470% higher than they were compared to pre-pandemic levels, according to the Federal Aviation Administration.

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“Mask mandates have ended. Still, the epidemic of air rage continues, and this elevated level of in-flight violence has to stop,” said Sen. Jack Reed (D-RI). “There should be zero tolerance for any violent behavior that affects flight safety, and this bipartisan bill will help us get there.”

The bill builds on previous efforts in the last Congress to implement a no-fly list, but that legislation failed to make it to the floor for a vote.