Please don't get the idea that this is all got up by the Press. I have seen scores of such cases in Court and the behaviour concerned was not only dangerous, but must have terrified the other passengers. Trying to open the door is a common one (yes, I know you can't, but does Granny in 32E know that?) as are assaults on crew, damage to property and the rest. And this is all at a major airport with no charter traffic; so it is no good just blaming the shellsuits. The person in the dock is just as likely to be a suited businessman as anything else.
It's real. I don't know if it has increased, but I do know that airlines are much more ready to press charges than hitherto; in one case a foreign airline brought both pilots and two FAs 4000 miles to give evidence. The defendant promptly changed his plea to guilty.