DOT sets precedent with airline fine

It wasn’t the amount of the fine itself — $175,000 — but the fact that it represented the first time the US Department of Transportation penalized a carrier for subjecting passengers to extended tarmac delays.
 

DOT’s unprecedented decision also was the first instance on record of an airline serving as the ground handler for another carrier being “punished for failing to properly help passengers leave an aircraft during an unreasonably long tarmac delay.”
 

“After ten years of increasing awareness of the serious nature of excessive tarmac delays, the DOT is finally using the bully pulpit and its statutory authority to protect the rights of the traveling public,” said the Business Travel Coalition (BTC).
 

Said Transportation secretary Ray LaHood:
 

“I hope this sends a signal to the rest of the airline industry that we expect airlines to respect the rights of air travelers. We will also use what we have learned from this investigation to strengthen protections for airline passengers subjected to long tarmac delays.”
 

The $175,000 fines were assessed to Continental Airlines, Mesaba Airlines and ExpressJet for a delay last summer that left 47 passengers stranded in a plane overnight on a runway in Rochester, Minn.
 

DOT levied fines of $50,000 each against Continental and ExpressJet, which operated the Continental Express flight that remained on the tarmac for what DOT called an "unreasonable period of time." DOT also penalized Mesaba, which handled ground services for the flight, $75,000 "for its role in the incident."

The Aug. 8 flight, bound to Minneapolis-Saint Paul International Airport from Houston, hit severe weather, and after diverting to Rochester landed at the airport at 12:30 a.m. "The passengers were stranded aboard the aircraft until approximately 6:15 a.m. when they were finally deplaned into the terminal," DOT said.

DOT said it is penalizing the carriers for "unfair and deceptive practices in air transportation for their respective roles in the incident."
 

While ExpressJet operated the flight, DOT said Continental holds responsibility since it was marketed as a Continental flight. In addition to the fine, "Continental also provided a full refund to each passenger and also offered each passenger additional compensation to tangibly acknowledge their time and discomfort," DOT said.

Mesaba, the only carrier staffing the airport at the time the plane landed, told the ExpressJet pilot that passengers "could not enter the terminal because there were no Transportation Security Administration screeners on duty at that hour.” DOT found "TSA rules would have allowed the passengers to enter the airport as long as they remained in a sterile area."

The Business Travel Coalition’s Kevin Mitchell said:
 

"This is extraordinary and very welcome leadership from Secretary LaHood. BTC has been testifying since 1999 that more aggressive leadership and enforcement from DOT, combined with serious reform by the airlines at the industry level, would avoid the need for congressional intervention with passenger rights legislation.”
 

By David Wilkening