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.

Now that they are going their separate ways, the individual airlines think nothing of throwing the others “under the bus”