Airlines Must Let Paxs Off Stuck Planes

[BLUE BAYOU]

"Ladies and gentlemen, we are currently number 2 for takeoff, however, since we're nearing our 3 hour limit, I will be required to taxi back to the gate and deplane you folks--"

And the best part of this regulation is if you have to wait for a gate for more than three hours, I have to find a way to get you off the plane--- hmmm, that'll be interesting since we don't have a gate for you folks...

Up to $27000 fine for each passenger-- thats just over $4 million bucks/ full A-320-- I think that was our profit for one of our quarters...

Oh, but if you're a foreign carrier-- this rule doesn't apply (Royal Air Moroc had passengers on their aircraft for 16 hours during our Valentine's day massacre, but you don't hear much about that).

 

[Skippy]

Gmafb It doesnt begin for four months. Ie after winter- so shouldnt even be an issue for a whole year. Nicely played.

What a joke. It doesnt mean crap. Airlines run lean. Its cheaper to run lean and accept the 1-4 times per year wx messes up the operation

 

[Abernathy]

3 hours guys. How many times this year did you sit on the ramp with passengers for over 3 hours?

What does this really have to do with the Obama administration.. You Hannity and Rush d**chebags apparently forgot too soon what your cowboy did (or didn't do) prior to this. At least the problem was acknowledged.

Costs will not go up because 4 hours on the taxiway isn't a daily occurrence. And if I were on a flight and it's been 3 hours with no end in sight, I'd sure as hell want to get off, too. Especially if I'm in the back of an RJ.

 

[av8tor76]

anyone think this will trigger revised staffing levels at current carriers??...extra crews will need to be available every winter, summer afternoons, and lga in general...

 

[Grandpa +65]

Dont forget Aero mexico early this year.

Passengers endure 16-hour ordeal on flight from Mexico
By Lynne Terry, The Oregonian
January 22, 2009, 11:04AM
Dozens of angry passengers were cooped up for 16 hours in an Aero Mexico plane, after their flight was diverted from Seattle to Portland International Airport.

Flight 670 arrived at PDX about 7:40 p.m. on Tuesday and then sat at a gate for more than four hours after being turned away from Sea-Tac Airport because of heavy fog, said Kama Simonds, spokeswoman for the Port of Portland, which runs PDX

 

[Nindiri]

Fine with me. If they want to get out on ramp or taxiway and hike through the snow back to the terminal while the rest of us wait for an empty gate, I don't mind. Special Xmas bonus: when one of them gets sucked into an engine, the pink mist will be festive.

 

[Lear70]

Tell you what, I'm surprised that more passengers don't self-exit the aircraft after 12-16 hour sits.

What's worse? 12-16+ hours trapped in an airplane with no facilities or arrested, taken to a facility with food and working bathrooms, making bail in 3-4 hours, then claiming "kidnapping" (and that HAS stuck so far in court), suing the airline BACK, getting the criminal charges dropped, and getting a nice settlement out of it.

Like I said, surprised it hasn't happened more often. This is probably a smarter move to stave off some self-exit maneuver happening in the future as people get less and less tolerant of these types of delays.

 

[crj567]

3 hours guys. How many times this year did you sit on the ramp with passengers for over 3 hours?

What does this really have to do with the Obama administration.. You Hannity and Rush d**chebags apparently forgot too soon what your cowboy did (or didn't do) prior to this. At least the problem was acknowledged.

Costs will not go up because 4 hours on the taxiway isn't a daily occurrence. And if I were on a flight and it's been 3 hours with no end in sight, I'd sure as hell want to get off, too. Especially if I'm in the back of an RJ.

What does it have to do with the Obama administration? Really? Read a paper lately? Who the heck do you think is in charge?

-You damn sure will know who the hell is in charge when you get stuck paying the new taxes this idiot has come up with for everything! Healthcare surcharge, marriage surcharge, windfall profit surcharge, and blah, and blah, and blah..... You are really gonna have to save up for some rims-son.

-Under these ******************************s, the only line of work that pays well will be crack 'ho.
-Now 'dat be some "truthiness!"

P.S.-Is there anyone on this board who has flown in/out of major hub airports and NOT had a 4 or 5 hour wait? Anyone here who has NOT been number two in line at 3:55? Where the hell have YOU been-at some "Hope&Change" "Hammer&Sickle" rally?

 

[airbrush]

Diversions?

Does this apply to diversions as well? I've spent over 20 years on the Dispatch/Ramp/Ops side of the equation, and I'd like the bureaucrats to explain to me how we handle 7 diversions within 30 minutes' time (easily dropping SEVERAL HUNDRED unexpected "guests" in our laps, when PHL or LGA or BWI or some other large hub has problems) with only 2 gates, 3 gate agents, and maybe 4 rampers.
Not only must we keep our gates free for our normally scheduled arrivals and departures, but when ATC is dangling the "ground stop may be lifted in 45 minutes" carrot in front of everyone, there's barely time to deplane ONE aircraft, let alone several. Then imagine the gate agents making multiple announcements to reassemble a couple of hundred wandering pax scattered throughout the terminal back to reboard several different aircraft when ATC suddenly gives us a 15 minute window to get the flights airborne again. The rampers are also kept busy with requests for lav service, cases of water, running release paperwork to the proper aircraft, coordinating fueling, etc. Meanwhile, various pax on each aircraft are using their cell phones to reserve rental cars inside the terminal, and then demand to be let off individually, and expecting someone to dig out their luggage (yeah, riiiiight). Others call the customer help desk to complain that they are being "falsely imprisoned", so then we get a call to let us know somebody out on our ramp is unhappy and that we need to do something about it. Then there's the diabetic pax who packed their medication in a checked bag (not their carry-on), and the lady with a little dog that has to pee but must have GRASS to pee on, not concrete.....and on it goes.
And how do we decide which flight gets to deplane? First come, first served? The plane with the most pax, and therefore the most exposure to governement fines? The one from the west coast whose pax have been on board the longest? The one who complains the loudest? And what if all of these flights (not to mention the scheduled ones that are coming and going in between) need deiced? We don't have an army of rampers to take care of all of this within some government imposed timeframe.
Although I can sympathize with the plight of pax in these situations (and some real situations do seem absurd), I think this is just another example of lawmakers who think they can take dynamic, complex situations that they barely comprehend and slap a few rules on them that do nothing but further hamper those who have to deal with them in real life, so they can then brag about the "swift action" that they took on the part of the poor and oppressed.

P.S. - By the way, this may sound like a rant, but I actually ENJOY days like that! I just don't like bureaucrats trying to tell us how to do our jobs when they have no clue about some of the realities.

 

[Abernathy]

What does it have to do with the Obama administration? Really? Read a paper lately? Who the heck do you think is in charge?

-You damn sure will know who the hell is in charge when you get stuck paying the new taxes this idiot has come up with for everything! Healthcare surcharge, marriage surcharge, windfall profit surcharge, and blah, and blah, and blah..... You are really gonna have to save up for some rims-son.

-Under these ******************************s, the only line of work that pays well will be crack 'ho.
-Now 'dat be some "truthiness!"

P.S.-Is there anyone on this board who has flown in/out of major hub airports and NOT had a 4 or 5 hour wait? Anyone here who has NOT been number two in line at 3:55? Where the hell have YOU been-at some "Hope&Change" "Hammer&Sickle" rally?

Well, I didn't expect a juvenile response. But anyways, I fly out of ATL, I believe that counts as a major hub. And while, due to an enormous passing storm, I have been stuck on the taxiway for about 2 hours prior to being able to depart, I have never been stuck for 4 or 5 hours once pushed back from the gate. And nowadays, if that does happen, you'll probably hear about it on the news. So no, it's not an everyday occurrence, so don't worry about how your airline will recoup its costs--since you apparently are so concerned with how management is able to line its pockets in the wake of "socialist policies."