Ever since the attacks in Paris on November 13, 2015, numerous bomb threats against airlines have occurred. The following outlines the threats that have occurred over the last month, and with the exception of Singapore, resulted in diverted flights:

• November 17, 2015: Two Air France flights traveling from the United States to Paris were diverted because of bomb threats, one to Salt Lake City, Utah, and the other to Halifax, Nova Scotia.
• November 20, 2015: A Spirit Airlines flight headed to Minneapolis returned to Ft. Lauderdale because of a possible threat overheard by a passenger.
• November 22, 2015: A Turkish Airlines flight departed the United States for Istanbul, Turkey, and diverted to Halifax, Nova Scotia because of an alleged bomb threat.
• November 22, 2015: A Singapore Airlines traveling from San Francisco to Singapore, landed safely despite a bomb threat.
• December 7, 2015: An Air France flight left San Francisco for Paris diverted to Montreal, Canada because of bomb threat.
• December 20, 2015: An Air France flight enroute from Mauritius to Paris diverted to Kenya due to a bomb scare.

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/edm-tuesday-briefing-portland-floods-fbi-theory-on-san-bernardino-air-france-flight-diverted/”]

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/edm-friday-briefing-washington-college-harvard-spirit-airlines/”]

Actions Taken

Diverted flights resulted in [link url=”http://www.syracuse.com/us-news/index.ssf/2015/11/turkish_airlines_flight_diverts_to_canada_after_bomb_threat.html” title=”extensive security actions“] by local law enforcement and [link url=”http://news.yahoo.com/singapore-airlines-flight-us-gets-bomb-threat-173839937.html” title=”extensive delays“].  In each instance, the threats were found to be false, but the [link url=”https://amuedge.com/edm-monday-briefing-landslide-in-china-school-closures-in-new-hampshire-air-france-flight-diverted/” title=”recent Air France incident“] was the result of a fake bomb being planted that was found by a passenger.

[relink url=”https://amuedge.com/edm-monday-briefing-landslide-in-china-school-closures-in-new-hampshire-air-france-flight-diverted/”]

A Growing Trend?

The last time such a rash of threats occurred was in January, after a [link url=”http://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2015-01-24/f-16s-escort-planes-to-atlanta-airport-after-bomb-threat” title=”threat deemed credible caused F-16’s“] to scramble and escort two planes to land at Atlanta’s Hartsfield International Airport.  Reports indicate that more than [link url=”http://www.cnn.com/2015/01/28/politics/airlines-online-threats-50/” title=”50 bomb threats were received by airlines“] after the incident.

Impacts to People and Airlines

The bomb threats to airlines seemed to increase after the Paris Attacks on November 13, 2015, and [link url=”http://ktla.com/2015/11/17/air-france-flight-from-lax-to-paris-diverted-due-to-security-threat-faa/” title=”some reports indicate that these threats have a psychological impact“] on people, one of the [link url=”http://www.rand.org/content/dam/rand/pubs/reprints/2006/RAND_RP1217.pdf” title=”goals of terrorism“].  Although nothing suspicious was found, with the exception of the Air France flight that diverted to Kenya because of a fake bomb, the [link url=”http://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2015/07/03/5-critical-consequences-of-airline-bomb-threats.html” title=”overall impact to the airlines involved is likely to be in the tens of thousands“] per diverted flight, according to one report.