Invoke Rule 240, get yourself arrested
The next time your flight is delayed or canceled, you might want to think twice before whipping out your airline’s contract of carriage and demanding compensation. Airline employees don’t tolerate passengers with attitude — especially those invoking the legendary “Rule 240.”
John Husson counts himself among those who will never say “240 me.” That’s a practice I warned against in my latest MSNBC column, but after hearing his story, I won’t do it either.
Here’s what happened Husson several years ago while flying from Baltimore to Chicago. I think it’s important to mention that this took place just after the 9/11 terrorist attacks, and everyone was still a little on edge.
There were hundreds of people in lines three across, snaking out the doors and down the road on one end of the terminal, and deep into the international terminal at the other end. We didn’t know it at the time, but Southwest had its holiday party the night before.
At 6 a.m., when the first flight was scheduled to depart, there was one check-in clerk at work. By 7 a.m. there were two check-in clerks and baggage clerk on hand. Flights had left empty, stranding the travelers I now counted myself among.
I won’t go into every horrific experience of that day, but one stands out. A young woman, mid-20s, was trying to get to Chicago for a friend’s wedding. As she stood at the counter, quietly but firmly invoking Rule 240, the ticket clerk motioned for two young Maryland National Guardsmen. With M-16s at the ready, they escorted the young woman out of line and held her at gunpoint — in a corner, away from the crowd — until I lost sight of her half an hour later.
I didn’t know it at the time, but Southwest does not participate in Rule 240. But they do participate in detaining would-be passengers at the business end of automatic military rifles.
Actually, Southwest’s Rule 240, which addresses delays and cancellations, is called Rule 85. You can read its entire contract here.
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7 Responses to “Invoke Rule 240, get yourself arrested”
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Only a terrorist would ask to be treated fairly. C’mon, NO ONE wants THAT any more. So if you think you have any contract rights, you are sadly mistaken. Airline employees are like cops, they are never wrong, always supported by superiors and if you stir the pot expect to be put in it on boil. We’ve all learned this over the last 5 years.
But yeah, WN has never interlined, which is what the practice is called, and there is no reason to expect that you would ever get interlined on WN. You buy a ticket on WN, or JetBlue, or god forbid, Skybus, and you are flying them, and only them, and if you miss your flight or it gets canceled you are at the mercy of the carrier for getting you where you want to go.
Sooner or later the unconscionable contract provisions will be litigated - they just need to piss off the right plaintiff. . . .
I would be calling my attorney as soon as I left (after using my cell to photograph the situation). That is frankly illegal by the airline when a passenger uses appropriate measures to get things taken care of.
Sometime after 9/11 (I think it was a year later) we were dealing with the horrors of O’hare (avoid that airport like the plague)…after more than 24 hours of delays…and a different excuse each time we asked…MIL called her TA, and we were told to politely but firmly ask to be reassigned per Rule 240…strangely, the 24 hours of continuous delays miraculously evaporated, and suddenly there was a plane for us…coincidence? You be the judge…
Perhaps she said something that was out of line, like threatening the gate attendant. We’re only getting half the story from an already angry passenger.
I had an experience like that in ‘02 or thereabouts. I was changing planes in Memphis and, while waiting in line for my flight, I was selected for secondary screening (this was when TSA was doing additional screening at the gate, inside the ’secure’ area). The TSA Offcicer asked me if he could open my bag, so I asked ‘What happens if I say no?’
Rather than telling me ‘You can’t get on the airplane’, I was pulled out of line until a WN gate agent was avalible to tell me ‘You can’t get on the airplane’. I even tried telling the agent ‘OK, so look in my bag’ when it looked like I was gonna get in trouble, but they weren’t having any of that.
I don’t know what Mr. Husson’s demeanor was when he asked his question. I know that, in my case, all it took to get on the wrong side of the TSA that day was six words and some curiosity.
It’s a little better now though. Last time I was in Orlando (summer of ‘06), I was randomly selected (no SSSS, just re-directed to secondary screening) and was unhappy with how unprofessional the TSA staff were at that checkpoint (they were gossiping about recent passengers that had gone through screening and high-fiving each other rather than actually doing any work) so I spoke with a supervisor. I was kinda surprised that I *didn’t* get detained.
Rule 240 is not a secret handshake to an elite club but an agreement between the “legacy airlines”. Rule 240 mandated that an airline facing a delayed or canceled flight had to transfer you to another carrier if 1) the second carrier could get you to your destination more quickly than the original line and 2) it had available seats. If you are traveling in at a hub chance are the the next flight will be on the same airline. In addition, the original carrier will need to contact the other carrier to ensure the customer and luggage can be accommodated. There have been times that Rule 240 is not the best option, check luggage comes to mind. That is another can of worms….
We all know how terrible TSA can be with their treatment of travelers. Recently At the St; Louis, Mo. airport after passing screening I passed my step-dad his shoes. All of a sudden a TSA person was screaming at both of us. I asked the guy what the problem was and he said how did he know that I did not pass something between the two of us. I pointed out that we had been checked through and were now past the TSA check point and in the secure area. The TSA bully then told us that we were required to enter a TSA “secured” area, which laughably consisted of two circles painted on the floor. I am 55, my step dad is near 80. The guy was yelling so loud that many other travelers still in line started yelling at the guy that he was acting insanely. It was a joke. It took about 30 minutes before this jerk let us pass. When you have people who are at the very low end of the educational scale having power over the masses there are going to be many problems and confrontations. The TSA is the biggest joke our government has ever perpetrated upon the travelling section of our society.
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