What's best about the Obama administration's "rescue" of passengers stranded on grounded airliners is that travelers can now reasonably expect that their ordeal won't last more than three hours.
"I don't know what can be more disruptive to people than to have to sit on the airplane for five, six, seven hours with no explanation for why we're not flying, why we're not going back to the terminal, why we can't have a drink of water, why we can't have some food," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said Monday in explaining the administration's new rules.
The change allows hefty fines on airlines that keep passengers on the tarmac longer than three hours. In addition, airlines must provide food and water at least two hours into a ground delay and must keep toilets clean and operating. The rules take effect next April.
The historic and necessary step was taken amid mounting pressure from passenger rights groups impatient with the Senate's own version of tarmac delay. The House passed a Passengers Bill of Rights last May that included the three-hour deadline, but the Senate has been unable to agree.
Significant tarmac delays are relatively rare, affecting about 1,500 flights a year, or one out of every 6,200. But in the portfolio of airline complaints (lost luggage, incomprehensible pricing, etc.) nothing enrages travelers more than being trapped in cramped quarters with crying babies, no food or water, stinky, backed-up toilets and no reliable explanation for why or for how long. The notion that you've paid hundreds of dollars for shabby treatment only adds to the misery.
Tarmac delays first attracted widespread attention in 1999 when Northwest Airlines stranded thousands of passengers on snowy taxiways and ramps in Detroit for more than seven hours. But the incident that pushed the administration over the edge occurred in August when thunderstorms forced a Continental Airlines jet bound for Minneapolis-St. Paul to land in Rochester. Mesaba Airlines refused to open the terminal, forcing passengers to spend the night in the cramped, smelly aircraft.
Three airlines, including Continental's regional operator ExpressJet, paid fines of $175,000 for that incident, but the new penalties are far more severe -- $27,500 per passenger for exceeding the three-hour limit. For a typical jetliner with 200 passengers, that adds up to a fine of $5.5 million.
Industry officials warned of a cascade of unintended consequences. Airlines are likely to cancel more flights earlier rather than risk situations in which long delays may develop. Weather forecasts will play an even greater role in calculating probable delays. Airlines may even begin to space their schedules in ways that make connections more inconvenient for travelers.
