Congress is in the final throes of negotiating the FAA Reauthorization Bill. Part of the proposed law contains several controversial consumer provisions. One of the most debated concerns is whether to make the current Department of Transportation (DOT) regulation that limits an airplane’s time on the runway to a maximum of three-hours a law that [...]
TARMAC DELAYS
Did the federal government just kill tarmac delays?
That’s a question a lot of airline observers may be asking themselves after today’s DOT report (PDF) that there was just one tarmac delay exceeding three hours in August 2010.
Our friends at the Transportation Department have unleashed a blizzard of airline rule changes on us this morning. They’re being characterized as an early Christmas present for air travelers — particularly those with lengthy tarmac delays. And the government is not done yet. But read the actual rule, and the DOT’s nuanced discussion of its [...]
So you think that after criticizing the tarmac troopers recently, I’ll lay off my monthly series on the tarmac delay hall of shame.
The approach of cold-weather season reminds me of tarmac delays.
I was thrilled when I heard that a coalition of travel professionals was meeting in Washington for a what they called a “stakeholder hearing” on passenger rights. Finally, after years of virtually no representation in the nation’s capital, passengers were organizing.
That would be JetBlue Airways, according to the latest Transportation Department figures. Flight 12 from New York to Syracuse was delayed on the tarmac 328 minutes on June 26, which makes it the tarmac delay winner of the month.
Jerry Costello is the co-sponsor of the FAA Reauthorization Bill of 2009, which contains several important new rules designed to help air travelers. I asked the Illinois congressman, who is also the chairman of the House Aviation Subcommittee, about passenger rights and the prospects that new rules would be adopted by the Senate and signed into law.
Elliott is consumer advocate 
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