Comments on: Why is it legal to keep passengers waiting on the tarmac more than five hours?

By: Bill

Bill — Thu, 16 Jul 2009 05:04:08 +0000

Alex, maybe people should start doing that to force the airlines to smarten up!

By: Alex

Alex — Mon, 13 Jul 2009 23:55:52 +0000

There’s an easy solution to waiting more than 2 hours on the runway – keep some ipecac syrup in your carry one – at 1 hour, 55 minutes into the tarmac delay, take two swigs – at the two hour point the plane will be back at the gate with a projectile vomiting medical emergency ;-)

By: Wm Hope

Wm Hope — Sun, 12 Jul 2009 19:31:50 +0000

Excuses of having no gate are probably bogus; after all, I fly only abt a dozen times per yr, and even at that freq., I’ve had flites at major airports that were boarded/deplaned via stair/ramp, just like back in the 60′s. It might be a bit of a trial to the airline/airport staffs, but it would work. Oh, and if they say we’re unable to get close enough to terminals, what abt the buses that run interterminal airside at major airports? Once, when my wife was just limping post-op, at ATL they devoted the entire bus just to transport us to a domestic gate after we cleared customs at an int’l arrivals gate in a different terminal (we’d just asked for a wheelchair, expecting the customary golfcart at most>). These airline excuses may have a lot of reasons, some valid, but it is hard to avoid a conjecture that laziness in the customer service ethos is part of the problem a lot of time

By: AspenDew

AspenDew — Sat, 11 Jul 2009 23:12:30 +0000

I’m not sure how much control the airlines have over this. If there’s no gate, they can’t just let passengers off the airplane onto an active part of the tarmac. Seems to me some sort of solution involving the airlines *and* the airports in question needs to be found?

By: Jeanne

Jeanne — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 20:18:32 +0000

@deborah It was an emergency family situation and not my kids! Long story leading up to it, but I did not expect to be on a plane with small children that day

By: Deborah

Deborah — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 19:58:28 +0000

@J- With an infant and a toddler on a plane, why in the WORLD wouldn’t you bring AT LEAST snacks for them? Seriously. I am an adult, but always have water and protein snack in my carryon- in case of just this instance.

I can’t imagine travelling with children without supplies.

By: Ed

Ed — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 18:02:36 +0000

@Dave
“Apparently flight attendent union regulations did not allow them to stay in the plane after a certain number of hours without taking off. We had to taxi back to the gate and wait another 4 hours for a crew to be flown in from Chicago.”

Isn’t that funny…the flight crew is protected by their union, but the passengers have to endure false imprisonment.

By: Linda Snow

Linda Snow — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:43:58 +0000

In response to “Nobody”, who suggests a “Lets Roll” approach to tarmac stranding:
Are you kidding? People these days are being kicked off planes, arrested or even shot for anything interpreted as disruptive behavior – complaining, taking videos of surly attendants, even coughing loudly. We’re afraid to fight back, and justly so.

By: Alan Fiermonte

Alan Fiermonte — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 17:05:39 +0000

A great new term for forced, extended tarmac strandings would be
“tarmacboarding”…the act of being blindfolded, having a barf bag stuffed in your mouth, taxied out to a tarmac, and having incessant delays, misinformation, starvation, and personal discomforts poured down your throat until you begin to drown in your own severe mental anguish, frustration and claustrophobia. Tarmacboarding…take a taxi-way to the dark side. Coming soon to a airport near you.

By: Ernest

Ernest — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:26:38 +0000

I was recently stranded on a plane on the DFW tarmac. We were waiting for take off when a severe storm blew in although I think they were trying to beat it. All the planes on the runway access turned into the 60mph winds and shut down the engines for about 1 hour. The stewardess served drinks and we were allowed to move around while waiting. It was actually the most enjoyable ‘wait’ that I have ever experienced on a aircraft, expecially since it was on an American Eagle (AA) flight back to Lubbock. Those guys hold the worlds record (according to me) in being jerks on the plane but this time they actually came through. I was only 3 hours late getting home. One of my best AA times yet.

By: Nobody

Nobody — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 16:23:57 +0000

Airlines get away with it because the passengers let them. If everyone on board demanded return to the terminal, they would. But how many of you would just sit there when some passengers started claiming they were being held against their wills after 3 hours? The same percentage that sat in the seats while others had their throats cut or the few brave that acted when one shouted, “Let’s roll!” on 9/11

“If they weren’t meant to be sheared, God would not have made them sheep.”–Calvera (Eli Wallach) “The Magnificent Seven”

Here lies Quick-Draw Johnny
RIP
Nobody was faster

By: J

Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:58:57 +0000

I got stuck for hours on the tarmac from chicago – Westchester NY with an infant and a toddler. They got pretty hungry and thirsty, but they wouldn’t bring out drinks at all for anyone, or even a bag of peanuts. Other passengers felt bad for them (especially since their crying was sincere whimpering and not loud crying) and we got a few apples and yogurt, thankfully, but then by the time the plane finally got to Westchester, all their food options were closed, and we found out they boarded the wrong luggage and ours were on the flight coming an hour and a half later!

If the plane were merely delayed instead of us being stuck out on the plane, I could have at least planned out and purchased some food in Chicago instead of making the poor girls wait until our taxi ride home (after waiting for luggage!) to eat!

By: Caseyg

Caseyg — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 15:16:26 +0000

I read the post but still don’t see anything that makes this conduct legal. Maybe a few local lawsuits, filed in your home jurisdiction, for time, missed connections, pain & suffering will cure the problem. If not, it would sure make me feel better knowing I caused the airline some headache.

By: John

John — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 14:40:55 +0000

It seems to me that the airlines and the government are letting everyone down by not finding a common sense solution to this ridiculous and all-too-frequent situation. Perhaps a passenger bill of rights with teeth is the blunt instrument needed to force an answer, but wouldn’t it be simpler just to find a solution which allows pilots and air traffic control/airport authorities to achieve individualized resolutions when such problems arise? Holding passengers hostage in seats for indefinite periods of time is a ridiculous response to the problem. And asking flight attendants to mediate the situation when they have no control or information is folly. Surely we can do better than the status quo.

By: Deborah

Deborah — Fri, 10 Jul 2009 08:18:30 +0000

A few summers ago, I had the bad luck to be stuck on a British Airways plane for 9+ hours after the grounds crew in London went on strike to support the food suppliers. We were literally still at the gate the entire time. Apparently the ground crew, due to the strike, were unwilling to reconnect the airplane to the gate so we could disembark. It was so completely frustrating to be so close and yet so far. To make matters worse, the food suppliers strike meant no food on the plane. Luckily, BA had supplied food vouchers for use in the airport prior to boarding. BA was in such chaos because of the strike, that it took 3 days for me to get a flight back home. I’ll have to say, though, the cabin crew were great…and we were even entertained at one point by someone who had their violin with them.