Record fine for United
United Airlines has been fined a record $1.1 million for more than a dozen tarmac delays at Chicago-O’Hare International Airport in July, 2012.
As storms swept across Chicago, passengers were stuck on grounded United and United Express planes, two without working lavatories, for hours.
DOT rules mandate that passengers be allowed to leave planes stuck for more than three hours.
The delays ranged from two minutes to more than an hour and a quarter over the limit, DOT said, and affected 939 fliers.
United is "committed to complying with the tarmac delay regulations and we continue to improve our procedures while maintaining the safety of our customers and co-workers," spokeswoman Mary Ryan said in a statement to NBC News.
United paid passengers $185,000 in compensation for the delays and has promised to make $440,000 worth of improvements at the airport.
Report by TravelMole US
Lisa
Lisa joined Travel Weekly nearly 25 years ago as technology reporter and then sailed around the world for a couple of years as cruise correspondent, before becoming deputy editor. Now freelance, Lisa writes for various print and web publications, edits Corporate Traveller’s client magazine, Gateway, and works on the acclaimed Remembering Wildlife series of photography books, which raise awareness of nature’s most at-risk species and helps to fund their protection.
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