DOT sets limits on taxiway delays...

[Dont call me Shirley]

]U.S. Limits Tarmac Waits for Passengers to Three Hours

By THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
Published: December 21, 2009
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Transportation Department, responding to tarmac horror stories, orders airlines on Monday to let passengers stuck in stranded airplanes to deplane after three hours.

Related
The Lede: Held Hostage on the Tarmac: Time for A Passenger Bill of Rights? (Feb. 16, 2007)


With its new regulations, the Obama administration is sending an unequivocal message to airlines that it won't tolerate the delays experienced by some passengers, such as an overnight ordeal in Rochester, Minn., last summer

http://www.nytimes.com/aponline/2009/12/21...;WT.mc_ev=click


So, let's say your are on a flight that has just gotten to head of the conga line after 2 hours and 59 minutes. Someone wants off. What you think will happen?

 

[SparrowHawk]

The law of unintended consequences is the primary reason that Government regulations such as this do not work in favor of either consumers or airlines.

A better approach would be to allow the average customer the right to file suit in state court against the airlines. The airline lobby group ATA has been highly successful in getting that legislation squashed on several occassions.

If the DOT set up "Guidelines" for tarmac delays then give the consumer the right to seek redress through the courts for events outside the guidelines we would see real progress.

Putting customers first will only happen when it becomes cost effective to do so.

 

[USFlyer]

So, let's say your are on a flight that has just gotten to head of the conga line after 2 hours and 59 minutes. Someone wants off. What you think will happen?

I would argue this is not "sitting" on the tarmac if the plane is taxiing to the departure runway. However, some lawyer might disagree, so this will likely stop airlines from pushing back from the gate until it's clear there is not too long of a wait for takeoff.

 

[robbedagain]

i would have to agree that now with this law most crews will say holdoff boarding due to extensive delays on the taxiway/runway

 

[autofixer]

My guess is many delayed flights will simply be cancelled to prevent a violation of the law. Often times we do not get the delay from the Feds ( The same people imposing this rule, a rule that must be enforced by the airline as a result fo something the Feds themselves do, go figure.) until the flight is off the gate. We send a message to dispatch and it is at this point, I think many flights will then be cancelled at about the 2.5 hour point. So passengers will wait in a penalty box somewhere 2.5 hours only to have their flight cancelled at the last minute. Happy joy!

 

[robbedagain]

My guess is many delayed flights will simply be cancelled to prevent a violation of the law. Often times we do not get the delay from the Feds ( The same people imposing this rule, a rule that must be enforced by the airline as a result fo something the Feds themselves do, go figure.) until the flight is off the gate. We send a message to dispatch and it is at this point, I think many flights will then be cancelled at about the 2.5 hour point. So passengers will wait in a penalty box somewhere 2.5 hours only to have their flight cancelled at the last minute. Happy joy!

I agree with your assessment. Of course the Feds always implements their rules so that they donthave to abide by it but everyone else must! I can see cancellations up to the kazoos in particular flights heading to PHL NY DCA etc during periods of snow storms and in ssummer t storms

 

[Dont call me Shirley]

Good article in the CS Monitor...Check out the BTS link. Just poking around, I found a Comair flight from CVG to PIT with a 458 minute taxi out time! For a 43 minute flight.
http://www.bts.gov/programs/airline_inform...rs_2009_01.html

http://www.csmonitor.com/USA/2009/1221/Tar...-US-cracks-down
Which airlines have the worst record this year? Here are the five airlines for which tarmac times exceeded three hours most often, along with the number of these incidents, according to a tally of monthly numbers reported by the government through October:

Delta: 110 flights
US Airways: 79
United: 65
American: 58
JetBlue: 56

 

[autofixer]

Typical National Government, blame someone else for your transgressions, that way you don't have to address the problem.

 

[jimntx]

So passengers will wait in a penalty box somewhere 2.5 hours only to have their flight cancelled at the last minute. Happy joy!

And, doesn't that thought make you want to change careers and be a gate agent? Imagine having to deal with those people as they leave the jetbridge to get rebooked?

 

[Pacemaker]

I agree this rule is completly out of touch with the reality of operations in the northeast during deicing/thunderstorm events. What will happen in a place like PHL is you will wait in line 3 hours for NY Center to release you and when the 3 hours are up and you give up and try to head back to the gate it will take you another 2 hours to actually get to a gate and deplane. Meanwhile, you could have been airborne in another 30 minutes. It'll be interesting to see how it's actually interpreted and how airlines react.

 

[jimntx]

At least at PHL or LGA the passenger can look out the window and see snow falling so heavily they can't see the wingtip. What about those passengers sitting on a plane at DFW, PHX, LAX, or MIA and it is bright blue sky and 65 degrees outside, but they are waiting for permission to depart for PHL, LGA, or BOS?

 

[PHL]

Frankly I'm all for this rule. The airlines have had 10 years or so (since the infamous Northwest "Runway Sunday" incident) to come up with a better way of mitigating these tarmac delays and they still keep occurring. Keep the passengers in the airport terminal until you have a reasonable departure window. I'm not sure I buy the 'airline will cancel the flight' argument because the equipment still often needs to be in the downstream destination. What I/we should hope is that the airlines manage their time banks better to avoid the pile ups.

 

[JS]

I'm also happy about this rule. There is no point in leaving the gate if the current wait for take-off is 2 hours.

 

[SKY HIGH]

I'm also happy about this rule. There is no point in leaving the gate if the current wait for take-off is 2 hours.

ASSUMING your aircraft can "GET A GATE" inbound......to make up YOUR FLIGHT.

 

[JS]

ASSUMING your aircraft can "GET A GATE" inbound......to make up YOUR FLIGHT.

If I'm in the airport, presumably the aircraft is parked at a gate. :blink: