Why is Virgin not fined for violating new airline rules?
Virgin Atlantic may be on the hot seat for stranding passengers for more than themuch-balllyhooed three-hour limit set by the US government, but why is it not subject to the mandated fines of more than US$27,000 per passenger?
“It happened because the federal time limit does not apply to foreign-registered aircraft,” answers former airline captain Patrick Smith writing his column “Ask the Pilot” In Salon. Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340 was stuck on a sweltering apron at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut for nearly five hours.
But do expect a push to have this loophole closed, adds Smith.
In April, a federal rule went into effect limiting tarmac strandings to a maximum of three hours during departure delays, and 90 minutes for arrival delays.
Smith points out the measure will affect only a tiny fraction of travelers — according to the Department of Transportation, approximately 1,500 flights are stranded each year for greater than three hours, or one of every 6,200.
Smith says he opposes the move because “I remain convinced that the rule is bound to cause more trouble than it solves. Nevertheless, this was a major coup for passenger advocacy groups that had spent years lobbying for get-tough limits on extended delays,” he writes.
Airlines vociferously opposed the measure, but high-profile incidents in 2007 and 2009 gave the "passenger bill of rights" crowd the boost it needed.
Reports from the Virgin cabin painted a picture of tedium, heat and confusion. "A hot, dark, and miserable four-hour stretch," is how the Associated Press described it. At least one passenger was administered oxygen, and an unspecified number received medical treatment after disembarking.
Virgin Atlantic says that US Customs and Border Protection denied its request to disembark passengers until more officials could be brought in, at one point telling the flight’s "pilot" (there would have been three pilots on a long-haul like this; presumably they mean captain) that anybody let off the aircraft would be arrested.
By David Wilkening
David
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