Only One 3+ Hour tarmac delay in January March 9th, 2011
Monday, March 7, 2011 – The nation’s largest airlines reported only one flight in January with a tarmac delay of more than three hours, down from 20 flights in January 2010, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT).
Data filed with the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), a part of DOT’s Research and Innovative Technology Administration, showed there have been only 16 total tarmac delays of more than three hours reported from May 2010 through January 2011 by the airlines that file on-time performance data with DOT, compared to 604 reported from May 2009 through January 2010. In January, the carriers also reported that .0600 percent of their scheduled flights had tarmac delays of two hours or more, equal to the .0600 percent reported in December 2010.
January was the ninth full month of data since the new aviation consumer rule went into effect on April 29, 2010. The new rule prohibits U.S. airlines operating domestic flights from permitting an aircraft to remain on the tarmac for more than three hours without deplaning passengers, with exceptions allowed only for safety or security or if air traffic control advises the pilot in command that returning to the terminal would disrupt airport operations. The Department will investigate tarmac delays that exceed this limit.
The monthly report also includes data on on-time performance, chronically delayed flights, flight cancellations, and the causes of flight delays filed with the Department by the reporting carriers. In addition, the report contains information on reports of mishandled baggage filed by consumers with the carriers, and consumer service, disability and discrimination complaints received by DOT’s Aviation Consumer Protection Division. This report also includes reports of incidents involving pets traveling by air, as required to be filed by U.S. carriers.
Bureau of Transportation Reports on Tarmac Delays February 11th, 2011
Thursday, February 10, 2011
In December, the airlines who file on-time data with the Department reported three domestic flights with tarmac delays of more than three hours, down from 34 in December 2009. Data filed with BTS showed there have been only 15 total tarmac delays of more than three hours reported from May through December 2010 by the 18 airlines that file on-time performance data with DOT, compared to 584 during the same eight-month period of 2009. In December, the carriers also reported that .0600 percent of their scheduled flights had tarmac delays of two hours or more, up from .0200 percent in November.
December was the eighth full month of data since the new aviation consumer rule went into effect on April 29, 2010. The new rule prohibits U.S. airlines operating domestic flights from permitting an aircraft to remain on the tarmac at a large or medium hub airport for more than three hours without deplaning passengers, with exceptions allowed only for safety or security or if air traffic control advises the pilot in command that returning to the terminal would disrupt airport operations. The Department will investigate tarmac delays that exceed this limit.
The Department has also issued a rulemaking that would significantly strengthen the protection afforded to passengers stranded on the ground aboard aircraft for lengthy periods. In a June 2010 notice of proposed rulemaking, the Department proposed to increase the number of carriers that are required to adopt tarmac delay contingency plans to include foreign air carriers and proposed to increase the number of airports at which carriers must adhere to such plans to include U.S. small and non-hub airports. In addition, the Department proposed to require all carriers that must adopt tarmac delay contingency plans to file data with the Department regarding lengthy tarmac delays. The Department expects to issue a final rule as early as April 2011, which will consider all the comments received as well as the lengthy tarmac delays experienced by a number of foreign carriers at John F. Kennedy International Airport (JFK) during and after the Dec. 26, 2010, blizzard and the resulting impact on passengers traveling on those flights.
from http://www.bts.gov