This is an interesting twist.
Remember the Continental/ExpressJet tarmac incident earlier this month? Everyone was quick to blame the airline for holding passengers overnight against their will in Rochester, Minn. Now, a preliminary investigation by the Transportation Department has found that Mesaba, a regional carrier owned by Delta Air Lines, was the likely culprit.
Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood posted the findings to his blog this morning, which effectively vindicated ExpressJet’s crew. (Here’s a related news release that just crossed the wire.)
We have determined that the ExpressJet crew was not at fault. In fact, the flight crew repeatedly tried to get permission to deplane the passengers at the airport or on a bus.
Specifically, the DOT found that the local representative of Mesaba Airlines–the only carrier in a position to help the stranded plane–improperly refused the requests of the ExpressJet captain to let her passengers off the plane, telling the captain that the airport was closed to passengers for security reasons.
That, says LaHood, is what led to the “nightmare” for those stuck on the plane.
The Mesaba rep said this apparently because there was no one from the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) available to screen passengers. But, in fact, TSA procedures allow passengers to get off the plane, enter the terminal and re-board without being screened again as long as they remain in a secure area.
Continental isn’t totally off the hook. While the crew of the Continental Express flight did what they could to assist passengers, more senior personnel within Continental or ExpressJet should have become involved in an effort to obtain permission to take the passengers off the plane, according to the DOT.
The timing of this report is curious. As my friends over at the Dallas Morning News aviation blog pointed out, the Transportation Department doesn’t usually release preliminary results. I asked my agency contact about that. His response?
[The Secretary] may have wanted it out because he knows he’s going to get questions on it today. Or, he may have wanted it out to make it clear to that forum that the DOT is not sitting quietly on commercial aviation matters. Or, maybe no one told him that we don’t usually announce preliminary results.
Either way, LaHood remains upset about the incident. The Secretary added,
You know, learning more about the facts of this incident hasn’t done a whole lot to temper my anger at the way those passengers were treated. I mean, there was really a complete lack of common sense here. It’s no wonder the flying public is so frustrated.
I’ve asked Mesaba, Delta, Continental and ExpressJet for a comment on the findings, and will update this post when I have them.
LaHood hints that his agency may toughen its rules regarding ground delays.
What has the flying public gained from this investigation? Our findings will be used to help formulate a final rule that will provide better protection for airline passengers. The bottom line is that commercial aviation is complicated by many factors–weather and security among them. But, that passengers should be treated with respect? That part is simple.
Hopefully, it’s more than a hint.
Update (12:30 p.m.) Continental has responded to the DOT report:
Continental takes responsibility for the care of its customers, whether they are on our regional partners’ flights or our own. We are gratified that Secretary LaHood recognized the crew’s efforts to resolve the situation.
While the result for the customers was clearly unacceptable, it is evident that the ExpressJet crew worked through the night to resolve the situation and was frustrated with Delta Connection’s failure to provide reasonable assistance.
We have processes in place to avoid these situations and those processes clearly broke down in this case. We are working to ensure that doesn’t happen again.
Update 2 (2:30 p.m.) Delta has issued a statement.
Because customer service is so important to our industry, I have personally reached out to Continental’s chairman and CEO to ensure we fully understand the facts of this unfortunate incident. Delta is working with Mesaba to conduct an internal investigation, continue our full cooperation with the DOT and share all the facts with Continental.
Update 3 (3:20 p.m.) Mesaba has chimed in.
Mesaba respectfully disagrees with the DOT’s preliminary findings as they are incongruent with our initial internal review of the incident. Because Continental Express Flight 2816 diverted to an airport where they have no ground handling service, Mesaba offered assistance as a courtesy during this delay. While the investigation is ongoing, Mesaba is fully cooperating with the Department of Transportation and looks forward to the final report.
(Photo: Caribb/Flickr Creative Commons)
{ 5 comments… read them below or add one }
I don’t think any of this finger pointing and buck passing will do anything to resolve the situation for the passengers, or implement new procedures for when these incidents happen in the future. A delay on the tarmac of more than an hour is wholly unacceptable. 5 hours is detainment against my will.
Gee, you think this finger pointing would have happened had Continental not decided to jump to the Star Alliance? When NWA, Delta and Continental were all one big happy alliance, I bet this wouldn’t have happened.
Now that they are going their separate ways, the individual airlines think nothing of throwing the others “under the bus”
Am I wrong or are the TSA rules often cited in these instances — where they say they can’t let people off the plane because there are no TSA personnel around to screen them. Instances like this make this piece seem all the more true: http://www.suddenlysenior.com/deathofcommonsense.html.
with a delay of that length, couldn’t that be construed as kidnapping? As in holding someone against their will. Illegal confinement.
Amy August 21, 2009 at 1:20 pm
I don’t think any of this finger pointing and buck passing will do anything to resolve the situation for the passengers, or implement new procedures for when these incidents happen in the future.
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Apparently, Airports NEED to be open 24/7. In the unlikely event of an aircraft getting diverted due to weather conditions. But, who’s gonna pay for that? The Govt? The Airlines? Should the airlines foot the bill, guess what, it will end up in your airfare. And, look at all the money the Govt is currently spending. Ouch.
When an airport closes at night. It’s closed. Security gates come down. Airline and TSA employees are gone. Security is still an issue.
Was there even someone there to work the jetway? Marshall the aircraft to the gate? Oversee passengers safely into the terminal?
Oversee them INSIDE the terminal? Had this been an international flight, the issue of immigrations and customs becomes relevant.
I’ve personally been through several “tarmac delays” and they are very frustrating to the crew as well as the passengers. People vent. I dont take it personally. Their anger is at the situation, not me. I deadheaded on an RJ jet and had a “four hour” delay on that. So, many airline employees feel for the situation. We’ve been through it.
For the most part, airlines are tenants at the airports throughout this country. I hear they should have Buses. How many hundreds of airports do we have in the country? Who’s gonna pay for that? Buses, just in cases of a diversion due to weather. Care to pay for that in your airline ticket? I doubt it.
I’m NOT condoning what happened, just trying to understand why it does. The Government failed to improve the aviation industry right after 9-11 when air travel decreased with capacity cuts. History is repeating itself. NOW would be a good time to spend those TAX DOLLARS ( your airline ticket is HEAVILY TAXED). Capacity is down during this recession. I’d hate to see nothing done before a recovery in the economy happens. You’ll see an increase in AIR TRAVEL and with that comes back the congested skies.