In the U.S., the perp is often hit with costs of the divert as part of a plea agreement:
An infamous case from 1995:
"Banker Pleads Guilty to In-Flight Mischief"
NEW YORK - Gerard B. Finneran, 52, an investment banker accused of defecating on a United Airline's food-service cart and threatening a flight attendant, told a judge Monday he was
angry because he had been refused another glass of wine.
Finneran pleaded guilty Monday to a federal misdemeanor charge for making the threat aboard a flight from Buenos Aires to New York on Oct 20. As part of a plea agreement, he also promised to reimburse United Airlines $49,029 for cleanup costs and for other passengers' tickets.
Finneran, the managing director at the Trust Company of the West, faces up to six months in jail and a $5,000 fine when he is
sentenced May 14.
Prosecutors said in court papers that Finneran started pouring
drinks on himself during the flight, threatened one flight attendant and shoved another into a seat.
"I was angry," said Finneran.
See:
http://www.thesmokinggun.com/altitude/monday1.html
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September 20, 2001
Cynthia Mikula ordered to pay $87K restitution
Crystal Mikula to be sentenced today
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) - One of the twin sisters convicted of getting drunk and disrupting an international flight that had to be diverted to Anchorage was sentenced Wednesday to five years' probation but no additional jail time.
Federal District Court Judge John Sedwick also ordered Cynthia Mikula, 22, of Buckley, to pay nearly $87,000 in restitution and perform 231 hours of community service for her part in a ruckus on board on United Airlines Flight 857 from San Francisco to Shanghai, China on April 19.
"That represents one hour for every passenger on the airline," Assistant U.S. Attorney Charlie Brown said of the community service portion of the sentence.
The restitution - $86,774.92, to be exact - represents the amount the diversion cost United Airlines. Among the costs, Brown said, were flight crew overtime, landing fees, 20,000 gallons of jet fuel, plus food and hotel accommodations for the 231 other passengers.
Mikula reached an agreement in July to plead guilty to one count of interfering with a flight crew.
Mikula's identical twin, Crystal Mikula, 22, also of Buckley, is to be sentenced Thursday after pleading guilty to one count of misdemeanor assault.
The women were headed to a modeling competition in Shanghai when they got drunk, argued, directed profane language at each other and smoked in the airliner's restroom.
They resumed the argument outside the restroom and, when flight crew members tried to intervene, Cynthia Mikula struck a female flight attendant in the face and hit a male flight attendant and the captain, according to court documents. She bloodied the nose of the female flight attendant.
http://www.record-eagle.com/2001/sep/20mikula.htm