So you think that after criticizing the tarmac troopers recently, I’ll lay off my monthly series on the tarmac delay hall of shame?
I’m sorry to disappoint you.
The latest losers were released this morning by our friends over at the Department of Transportation. They’re for the month of September.
Only two flights had ground delays that exceeded four hours.
Delta Air Lines flight 1015 from Philadelphia to Atlanta, 9/21/09 – delayed on tarmac 275 minutes
American Airlines flight 1672 from Dallas/Fort Worth to Tulsa, Ok, 9/21/09 – delayed on tarmac 267 minutes
That is just way too long. You don’t need me to tell you that.
If you make it three hours, you see the players don’t change at all. It’s still Delta and American.
I haven’t asked DOT about the reasons for the delays — were they mechanical or weather-related? — but my sense is that since they occurred on the same day, they may have been weather-related.
(FlightAware.com suggests both the American and Delta were delayed because of the weather.)
If there were a “Passenger Bill of Rights” would anything have been different?
Maybe Delta and American would be looking at some fines, but the passengers would have been just as stranded for more than four hours. And I’m not sure they wouldn’t have received any kind of compensation, under the proposed law.
(Photo: JBoulin94/Flickr Creative Commons)
