Outrage on tarmac delays--you want to know, DOT wants to know

What does it mean that an article from over the weekend on a nightmare flight delay is yesterday's "Most Viewed" news item in the Minneapolis Star-Tribune? I think it means that reasonable people are outraged at the idea of being stuck on a small plane for seven hours. I think it means that flyers and those who are considering flying want to know that should a delay occur, they will be treated respectfully.

That is why we have sent a letter to Continental Airlines inquiring into the circumstances of its recent Continental/Express Jet flight 2816 extended delay.

When I was in Congress, I did a lot of traveling to and from my district in Illinois, so I'm not unfamiliar with the experience of sitting on the tarmac, waiting--whether for clearance from the tower, further instructions from the airline, or simply some information from the crew. I know being stuck on a plane is no fun.

But I also know that delays happen for many reasons, most of which are beyond the airline's control.

That's why the letter to Continental  simply seeks answers to a few questions. Basically, we want to know what I think all of us want to know:

1. Why the flight was diverted to Rochester, Minnesota, in particular;
2. Which carrier, Continental or Express Jet, was responsible for the well-being of the passengers and, in particular, which carrier’s contingency plan was implemented during the tarmac delay;
3. Whether Continental/ExpressJet had in place at Rochester procedures regarding the deplaning of passengers on diverted flights at diversion airports without TSA presence and if not, why not;
4. Whether such procedures were implemented with respect to flight 2816 and if not, why not;
5. Why flight 2816 was forced to stay on the ground at Rochester for as long as it did; and
6. An explanation of the passenger’s treatment during the delay, including once they were inside the airport terminal.

The letter also asks Continental for similar information about other recent delays.

What will we do with the answers Continental provides?

Well, last year at the recommendation of the DOT Office of Inspector General,  we  established the National Task Force to Develop Model Contingency Plans to Deal with Lengthy Airline On-Board Ground Delays. The model plans suggest what steps airlines and airports may take to alleviate passenger discomfort, but the Task Force could not require any action by airlines. 

However, DOT has a rulemaking in progress that proposes to require airlines to take certain steps to deal with lengthy tarmac delays, including establishing contingency plans that meet basic passenger needs during a lengthy tarmac delay.  Some have proposed that DOT go further and set a time limit for carriers to deplane passengers.  While I can't comment on the merits of the proposed rule yet, we will use the information Continental provides to help us reach a decision about what direction to go in that rulemaking.

Whatever shape any rule might take, I want readers to know that DOT is trying to help reduce the discomfort--and the resentment--that can turn a lengthy delay into a nightmare.

Comments

[A. Lindig]

Insane. Disgraceful. Obscene. Even cattle in cross-country transportation are treated better than these passengers were. There is no excuse for such insensitivity. Frankly, every employee who was connected with this fiasco should be fired, with prejudice, and brought up on kidnapping charges.

[Scott]

This wasn't a "lengthy tarmac delay". I don't see how any reasonable person could use such terminology in relation to a 7 hour sit.

Personally, I think you guys should rescind the rule that makes it a felony to overtake an aircraft that has been sitting on the tarmac (away from the terminal, but not on-deck for take-off) for more than an hour (which is a much more reasonable period of "delay"). Consider it as kidnapping and false-imprisonment, and after an hour, if the people kidnapped on that plane take it over and force the pilot under threat to return to the terminal, then consider it a consumer success. Additionally, then allow the passengers to sue the airlines for duress and emotional distress.

I'll -GUARANTEE- you the airlines won't do something like this anymore. It won't even happen once!

[David]

I don't understand why this is not considered a form of kidnapping. Why couldn't a passenger choose to get off the plane and take a bus or rent a car? If there was no security there, then what was keeping vandels or thieves from breaking in and stealing everything? Pilots and airline personnel are not law enforcement personnel and have no authority to detain people against their will.

[Bob Pagano]

When senior executives long ago abandoned commercial airline travel in favor of private jets, the flying public has had no one with any clout to advocate for them. Used to be that a bad flight experience was rewarded by a call to the airline CEO from a CEO passenger, with the complaint taken seriously. With no more big whigs on board, the airlines run roughshod over passengers. The recent example with Continental Express once again proves that without regulation and stiff fines, the airlines will do whatever they please.

[Wherrett]

I highly doubt that those who were stranded on the tarmac for 7 hours, are going to feel relieved that the DOT has a solution in "progress". Why does it take a disaster to make things happen with the DOT?
Unhealthy delays are not breaking news, so what is taking DOT so long???

[chris]

It could also have turned into death...large coporations have zero concern about customers and their plight. This behavior is pervasive and lacking in anyone's bests interest, except the corporate bottom line!

[Ron]

I support the The Passenger's Bill of Rights.
I sympathize with these passengers, there is already enough discomfort taking a flight anywhere.
Please fix the problem Mr. Secretary.

[DC]

Please be sure an publish the findings and remedial actions taken in the Continental/Expressjet investigation.

Please be sure to ask the passengers about the BS they were told about a bus to pick them up. The airlines like to give passengers a series of excuses to string them along during these delays. I have been lied to more than once. I now disregard all explanations from air crews as worthless misinformation.

There can be no more excuses. Three hours on the tarmac is a NEVER EXCEED limit. Make the airlines compensate each passenger at the rate of $10/minute after three hours and watch this problem disappear overnight.

[Wes Potter]

a larger problem for Continental and its feeder carriers are the basic skills of the pilots. The Buffalo crash points to inept pilots because of laughable salaries and working conditions. Playing up pilot fatigue is a smoke screen, when the PIC pulls back the controls when facing a stall. Any 10 hour student pilot knows better. A co-pilot with 250 hours is a joke. Get real

[billd1939]

It seems to me that the airlines can't be responsible for security at an airport in place of TSA personnel. If laws/regulations are to be put into effect requiring airlines to deplane passengers after a delay of a given length, that same regulation should reauire that TSA have staff at the airport to assure security. If that isn't feasible, then that airport must be removed as an approved diversion location in flight planning. This will probably result in delays and cancellations during weather events. Or am I missing something?

[bill dunlap]

I can't believe a person in the position of the Secretary of Transportation is surprised by the latest passengers stuck on a plane for 7 hours episode. Have you been rasputin like the last 10 years or so?
But the problem will go around the congress for a couple weeks, then airline transportation lobbyists will pay off who ever raises a stink, and submits a passengers bill of rights for presentation to congress, and the lobbyists will give our ever diligent politicians some cash, and the problem will go away till next month, when it will all start again, and more money will be given to congress. I'll bet anyone with an IQ over 20 will come to realize, we have no help in Washington, just bought and paid for whores, with little regard for the second class of America. the bottom 99.5 percent of us. Stop blowing smoke up you know where. Washington is a company town, and that bottom 99.5 percent are not in the equation.

[Deena Dewbre]

I experienced a similar ordeal when flying from Albuquerque, NM to Twin Cities, MN in December 1999 on a direct Northwest flight. The flight should have only taken 2 1/2 hours on a normal day. However, due to a Canadian clipper, after circling MSP for 45 minutes, the flight was diverted to Rochester, MN where all of us sat for over 4 hours and was left out on the tarmac. Luckily for those of us on this flight, the bathrooms were operating and the flight staff did all they could to provide water and snacks. Here it is 10 years later and still the same issues with passenger rights. I finally decided in 2000 that I refused to be a "prisoner" of the airlines and have not stepped foot on a plane since then. What is it going to take before the federal government steps up and takes action on this and imposes a passenger bill of rights? How can an airline technically hold a plane full of passengers "hostage" due to weather or mechanical delays? The most reasonable response is for the passengers be allowed to deplane. Why is that such a difficult concept for the airlines? Also, when is the TSA, NTSB, FAA and DOT going to step up and impose regulations on the airlines to not allow this to happen in the future? Why are the airlines not fined when these situations happen? I guarantee a $3,000,000 fine per each flight this occurs would get the airlines attention in a hurry. Do you really think that a free airline ticket is reasonable when held "hostage" for hours with no access to food or restrooms in addition to be cramped on an airplane where a passenger doesn't even have room to stretch their legs?

[Dan DeVillers]

I am concerned that Continental was worried about releasing passengers to the airfield that was not 'secured' by the TSA. There needs to be more oversight of TSA mandates and so-called security regulations. The folks on this plane are not the enemy, Continental Airlines is not the enemy, and 99.99% of the folks that fly are not the enemy. It is the blanket restrictions being placed on American citizens that needs to be addressed. The problem
addressed in this blog is only a symptom of a greater problem with
restrictions to our freedom to travel...

[Peter Greulich]

Mr. Secretary,

You fail to ask the most pertinent question of all: Why were the passengers not allowed to disembark the plane after two hours or so? Having been in similar situations more than once (3-hours or more), this continuing failure of the airlines to have even the most rudimentary consideration for their paying passengers is a complete outrage! I hope you and Congress will finally address these genuine passenger grievances with a Passenger Bill of Rights - backed with real teeth.

Thank you,

[Jeff Nelson]

Unfortunately, this circumstance is all too common. We experienced a "routine" 1.5 hour delay on the tarmac, after waiting 2 hours for a late flight at JFK the other night, on a JFK flight. Until the airlines pay the actual cost of lost productivity, personal life interruptions, missed opportunities, etc, there will be little actual change to this situation. I would propose a solution which involves progressively higher discounts for each hour that a plane is delayed, regardless of the cause, to a maximum of 200% after 5 hours.

[Bruce McCashin]

From the original report of the incident,it would appear that Continental was not the only factor to blame.

There were "no security people present" and "there was not enough space for people to sleep".

It would seem that some local,state , and/or federal regulations might have been involved , as well as an unprepared airport facility.

[Barbara Bell]

My brother-in-law Vernon Bell, aged 74, flew from Rochester, NY to Newark/LaGuardia on Continental on Tuesday evening, August 11. He was flying to Columbus, GA after attending my husband's funeral on Sunday.

The plane was delayed leaving Rochester by one hour, and arrived in Newark at 8pm, thereby causing my brother-in-law to miss his connecting flight which had left at 7:20pm.

There was no later flight, and the next flight was at 10:30 am Wednesday morning (today). Vernon is frail, very deaf, doesn't fly often, and has prostate problems requiring him to stay near a rest room.

He called me at 3:30 am, to say that he was sitting up all night, with no food or drink, until the morning flight. No one had offered him any assistance, or inquired as to his overnight safety, comfort or convenience. He didn't have much money on him, because he needed his cash to pay for the parking of his car for several days in Columbus Airport's parking lot.

I could do nothing from Syracuse, NY, and was extremely anxious all night for his welfare. Although he arrived safely in Columbus the next morning, I am sure he was exhausted, hungry, confused, and fearful of flying on Continental again.

My family feels this treatment of an elderly passenger who was inconvenienced because of Continental's delay, could have caused a tragic ending. Why was no one responsible for making sure he was safe and comfortable all night (14 hours!)? Was there no First Aid station, or security, or Traveler's Aid? Where does a passenger's rights begin and end in a situation like this?

[Paul Graeme]

I will never be held hostage by any airline. This is a criminal act and I will defend myself.

Paul Graeme
360-301-5429

[Tiki]

Were a cab driver, bus driver, friend or acquaintance to hold me against my will in their vehicle for 6 straight hours, I imagine they'd subsequently find themselves in handcuffs and charged with kidnapping.

This event was nothing less than the taking and holding of hostages for 6 hours. Exaggerated? Perhaps. But were I held against my will, you can bet that's the angle I'd expect my lawyer to take.

Do the right thing here. Fight to protect our rights. It's high time corporations and airlines learned that there are reasonable limits to their power.

[John Hunt]

Keeping passengers sitting on the tarmac beyond 3 hours should be considered a crime. In fact if a passenger requests to be released from this confinement and isn't it should be treated as a felony kidnapping/false imprisonment. THAT may finally get the airlines to take this issue seriously.

Or maybe taking the board of directors and all CxO level officers and putting them on a plane for 9+ hours without working toilets or water/food might do the trick as well.

[John R West]

Dear Secretary LaHood,
The ExpressJet tarmac delay may just be the tip of the iceberg. I paid for tickets for my daughter, son-in-law and one year old granddaughter to fly from Newark to Memphis and return within the past 6 weeks. My daughter's ExpressJet flight was canceled and delayed a day. That cost me $400 as I had to change tickets with Northwest for us to fly up to Seattle - we were scheduled to fly the next day after she was scheduled to arrive. Instead I had to change flights for the 3 of us, meet her and the baby the next day at the airport and then fly within about two hours to Seattle. My son-in-law joined us in two weeks when were arrived back in Memphis - that flight was fine. However, the return flight to Newark for the three of them was canceled. But they were able to catch a flight later that afternoon.
We had arranged these flights through Orbitz. There was a raging battle for about two hours between Continental and Orbitz about the first canceled flight between about 10 pm and midnight. We had not been notified about the cancellation and they were supposed to leave the next morning. We found out by accident that it was canceled. I finally stopped talking with Orbitz and finally reached a wonderful Continental employee in Tampa after midnight who solved the problem for my daughter and granddaughter.
While I applaud ExpressJet for being cautious about weather, the flight cancellations can cause all sorts of problems for passengers - as it did for us.
My questions are two: 1. Is the type aircraft ExpressJet flies so bad in weather that it has to cancel at every hiccup in the weather? The relationship between Continental and Orbitz seems so sour that they should consider stopping doing business with each other as we passengers get caught in the middle of their squabbles.
Thank you.
Respectfully,
John

[Andy R - Washington DC]

I fly about 80,000 miles a year. We need to enact legislation to deal with this and other problems. Specifically:

1.) No sitting on the Tarmac for two hours or more. Period. There is no excuse for this. Fine the airline $100 per passenger per hour beyond two hours.

2.) Post delays when they are known. I can't tell you how often I have sat in an airport, 10 minutes past the departure time, the CSA saying that the plane is delayed, but it still shows "on tie departure." If planes have not begun borading on schedule, they should have updated departure (wheels up) and arrival information posted.

3.) Offer customers options once a delay goes longer than an hour. Options should be wait, take later flight, or take flight next day.

4.) Must offer customers any available rerouting if delay is more than 3 hours.

5.) Mandatory compensation for non-weather related problems that casue delays of 3-hours or more. At 3-hours, require a meal voucher. At 6 hours, require $100 credit. If more than 8 hours or overnight, must offer hotel and transportation.

In general, I have good luck the airlines - but when things go worng, they seem to really get out of hand quick.

Andy R

[Malena Ally]

Flight: Continental 590 Houston to Lima
Date: Wednesday, July 22, 2009

I am writing because I recently flew Continental to Lima, Peru and my flight out of Houston was the worst flight experience I have every had. We left 6 hours late due to a variety of issues, including mechanical problems, a sick passenger, lightening, and finally, angry passengers demanding off the plane. We sat on the plane for almost the entire 6 hours and were only served water and snacks once after 2 hours and only had air conditioning for the last 30 minutes! It was very hot and I know there were children, and a woman with MS, who were having trouble with the heat.

I know that the airline cannot help these problems, especially the weather or a sick passenger, but what really made me angry (besides the lack of water and snacks and being served my dinner at midnight when I was falling asleep!) was that we were hardly given any information during this 6 hours. When we were given information, we would be told something like that the problem was fixed and fasten our seatbelts for take off, but we would sit for another 45-60 minutes with no other word from the pilot as to why we didn't take off! This is ridiculous. As passengers, we deserve to know what is going on! We people demanded off the plane the pilot informed us that he could not get ahold of someone from inside the airport as to what his options were (RIDICULOUS!...especially since Houston is a huge hub for Continental) and he said that they could get on the flight the following evening to Lima. That is all he said, with no information about the flight or if lodging would be provided. I was traveling with my father and we were trying to make a decision about whether to get off the plane and get food and sleep, but it was impossible with this limited information. When I got up to use the bathroom I overhead an attendant telling another attendant that she didn't know what the airlines was going to do for all these people because the flight the following night was booked! Of course, with this information we stayed on the plane, because I couldn't afford to wait a couple of days for a flight.

I will never fly Continental again and I am informing my friends to do the same.

[Carin C]

Excellent blog with good information. Just wanted to say Thank You for sharing it.

[alexis]

What you really mean is "this is a lot of show for the public but we really aren't going to do anything about long tarmac delays".
We, the American public, thank you for continuing to ignore this problem.