12 August 2010

Good news for airline passengers: rules paying off

Airline flights stuck on tarmacs for more than three hours fell from 268 last June to just three, making the second month in a row of reductions after lawmakers ruled carriers could be fined for delays.

The US’s 18 carriers scrapped only 1.5 percent of flights in the month when data was available, according to the Transportation Department. Cancellations were unchanged.

"The airline industry had said more flights would be canceled as carriers sought to avoid breaching the three-hour limit," pointed out Bloomberg News.

The rule pushed by Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood imposes fines as high as US$27,500 for each customer when an airline fails to free passengers after three hours on an aircraft. The rule applies only to domestic flights.

"This is extremely positive news for consumers," said Kevin Mitchell, chairman of the Business Travel Coalition, which lobbied for higher penalties. "Airlines have surprised everyone in their ability to respond to this rule in short order."

The Air Transport Association, representing carriers including Delta Air Lines Inc. and UAL Corp.’s United Airlines, led opponents. They complained that a three-hour limit would cause a higher rate of canceled flights and greater passenger inconvenience.

"Flight delays and cancellations vary significantly from month to month as a result of variables, including weather and airspace congestion," Victoria Day, ATA spokeswoman, said in an e-mailed statement. Airlines "will continue to fully comply with the new tarmac delay rule."

United Airlines, among carriers filing reports, accounted for the month’s delays, on three flights departing Chicago’s O’Hare International Airport when a severe afternoon thunderstorm raked northern Illinois. None of those flights was delayed by more than three hours and five minutes, according to the statement.

By David Wilkening