Surviving dreaded delay on airport tarmac
By Harry R. Weber
Associated Press
Published: Saturday, Sept. 19, 2009 4:23 p.m. MDT
ATLANTA — You're tired, hungry, have a cranky baby on your lap and all you want to do is get off the plane, but you can't because it's been on the tarmac for hours waiting to take off.
A six-hour delay with 47 people aboard a small Continental Express plane at a Minnesota airport recently is the extreme. In June, the most recent month for which data is available, there were 278 tarmac delays of three hours or more. That was the most this year but still only .05 percent of the total number of scheduled flights that month.
Information is the best ammunition in such situations. Experts advise that passengers be prepared. Here are answers to some questions travelers may ask.
Q. Can't I just get off the plane?
A. No. The captain has ultimate control of the plane and generally will determine if and when to return to the gate and allow passengers to get off.
"It's not a democracy," says Robert Mann, an airline industry consultant in Port Washington, N.Y.
Passengers can request that the aircraft return to the gate, or if they have a cell phone they can call airline customer service or their carrier's frequent flier hotline and exert pressure that way. If you have a medical condition or are ill, notify the crew immediately. But taking matters into your own hands is ill-advised. An FAA spokeswoman says unruly passengers who make a run for the aircraft door could be arrested for interfering with the crew.
Q. Why would the airline choose to keep the passengers onboard rather than let them get off?
A. It takes a lot of time to get passengers off a plane and then back on again. If the weather clears up at the airport where you are heading, the crew may have a limited opportunity to take off. Tarmac delays often occur because of bad weather, congestion and air traffic control issues. Further delays could be caused by allowing passengers to get off, which also could mean passengers with connecting flights might miss those connections.
Airline operations also are a factor. Because of weak demand for air travel due to the ailing economy, airlines have taken large chunks of seats out of the air and are offering fewer flights and frequencies to some destinations.
"It may add to the reason there are the tarmac delays and not the cancellations," says Terry Trippler, an airline and travel expert based in Minneapolis. "The airlines realize that there aren't a lot of flights to get them onto alternate flights, and that's why they rather just wait and get them out."
Q. How long can the crew keep me on the plane before heading back to the gate?
A. There's no law or rule mandating that the crew allow you to get off after a certain period. Legislation introduced in the Senate in July would require planes delayed more than three hours to return to a gate. A rule proposed by the Department of Transportation would require airlines to have contingency plans for dealing with lengthy tarmac delays. Some airlines have implemented customer commitments in recent years to try to appease passengers. JetBlue Airways vows to deplane passengers if an aircraft is delayed on the ground for five hours. That was instituted in 2007 after passengers on a JetBlue flight waited 11 hours on the tarmac at New York's John F. Kennedy International Airport.
Q. Will I get something to eat and drink while I wait?
A. Airlines generally only stock enough food and drinks for the length of the flight. Passengers on the Continental Express flight later complained about not being offered food and drink during their lengthy tarmac delay. Several airlines have procedures for dealing with onboard delays that include making sure the cabin temperature is appropriate and passengers have access to restrooms, and food and water.
After a recent AirTran Airways flight from Pittsburgh to Atlanta was diverted to Chattanooga, Tenn., flight attendants offered bottled water and pretzels to passengers during the 90-minute tarmac delay.
Delta Air Lines says on its Web site that in the event of onboard ground delays under certain circumstances, it promises to make timely announcements regarding the flight status, allow customers to use cell phones and laptop computers and provide snacks and beverages to customers when "reasonable and safe to do so." Experts advise that passengers should carry food and drink with them on flights in case of a delay while onboard.
"Instead of that extra pair of shoes in your carryon, you put an extra sandwich or an extra bottle of water," Trippler says.
Q. What can I do to pass the time during a tarmac delay?
A. On a long delay you might be hoping that you're not stuck next to someone who wants to share his life story. In that case on-flight TV or radio may be your salvation. What's more, it's always smart to carry something to read to get you through a delay no matter how long.
If you have a connecting flight that you might miss, use your cell phone to call airline customer service and rebook your next flight. The one thing experts agree on is that it is important to stay calm in those situations.
Q. What kind of compensation am I entitled to if I experience a tarmac delay?
A. Typically, circumstances beyond the control of an airline are not covered in terms of passengers being provided compensation, says aviation consultant Mark Kiefer of CRA International in Boston. However, airlines have discretion to help passengers out, and some even have policies for allowing for compensation when there are tarmac delays.
For instance, JetBlue customers who experience an onboard ground delay on arrival for two hours or more after scheduled arrival time are entitled to a voucher. The voucher is good for future travel on JetBlue in the amount paid by the customer for their roundtrip ticket.
Q. Where can I get more information about airline policies regarding tarmac delays?
A. Airline Web sites are a good place to start. Check the airline's contract of carriage, which outlines its responsibilities to customers and the action it will take in various situations.
Thursday, October 8, 2009
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4 comments:
Good Morning. I wanted to add some of my own thoughts on this. I have been a flight attendant for 12 yrs with a "regional" airline. I have to admit that there is NO way as a flight attendant that I would stay on board for 11 hours and not be going somewhere. I was on the plane waiting to take off for 3.5 hours out of LGA due to bad thunderstorms. I personally take very good care of the passengers and the Captain does not always have full authority over the situation. Fortunately for us, I advised the passengers of the entire situation and asked them if they wanted to return to gate (and try the next day) or wait another 2-3 hours to take off. They wanted to go back. The captain had to threaten to drop the passengers off on the tarmac if the airport didn't make concessions. OK, fine.
What you need to keep in mind is that a lot of times, we will even board the passengers and head away from the gate knowing that there is a delay because if we are already out there waiting we have a better chance of getting out faster. You are right in the fact that it takes a long time to board and do paperwork, load bags, ect.
What you can advise passengers is not to expect everything to go perfectly. The airlines cannot predict GOD any better than the meteorologist (I don't trust them either). With the above delay example, they were only allowing planes to take off and land on the same runway and in 5 minute turns. In a major city, that's a very long time. It stinks for the crew too and messes up our entire day so please do not think that we are sitting back going "Oh yeah, I love delays"!
Bring a protein bar and something to drink, reading material and some even bring a pillow and blanket. JUST IN CASE. And for the love of God, Please bring things for your kids to do! You will not always get a flight attendant like me that has things in her own bag for the kids!
At least you can take a nap!
Just wanted to let you know that while the Upper mng and especially Prez of Delta and Comair are making Millions! the Comair pilots and flight attendants are furloughed. The captains are downgraded to first officers losing up to 35$ which is a HUGE pay drop just so that they do not have to bring back the actual first officers. The flight crews are worked to death and flights are canceled due to lack of crew members and yet there are still employees on furlough.
Delta took away the pensions and the flight benefits for Comair employees, which was our only incentive since pay is so low.
They have "no" money and yet they fly crew members all over the place unnecessarily to make up for stupidity or mistakes when they downgrade aircraft stranding passengers again for lack of crew members because they are all on furlough.
It goes on and on....
Yeah, try getting that bottle of water past the TSA Nazis. Not going to happen and no one really gives a damn. Air travel is certainly no democracy - it's like indentured servitude that you get to pay for. The airlines feel that they own you, and their little power tripping stewardesses and megalomaniac pilots (bus drivers of the skies) believe they have life and death power over passengers. If I were trapped on the tarmac, I would resort to calling the police and filing a kidnapping complaint. That's what having friends who are lawyers are for.
Plainly, it's Us vs. Them, and they have had the upper hand for too long.
Actually to correct the anonymous letter , it was actually much more than 35% that amount is more like 50%,in Addition loss of retirement. it does not include lost pay from being able to sell your vacation , loss of payback days for holidays you work, work rules, I have worked 21 years over Christmas and thanksgiving ,not my choice. Having to work 22 days a month every weekend so I never see my child because I work on weekends and during the week she is in school.We have lost about half the sick leave so we fly sick.not to mention the loss of 95% of the retirement that was taken away after 17 years of service.Plus a great deal of other benefits. And now Obama is going to make me pay thousands of dollars a year for what i have left of my health plan. And now Obama wants to take away my vote with this union card check bull, and I am saying this as a pro union pilot because a pilots union equals safety for the passengers. BUT I believe my vote should be private.Obama is just Paying back the Union goons. Airlines are not making tons of money , they never have made money,a 200 dollar seat does not pay for the 75 million dollar plane I fly and that is one of the smaller cost of running an airline. As a captain I taxi out and we get stuck out there so rarely I cannot remember how long ago.If the governentt would stop letting every tom dick and harry from opening an airline we would have less traffic ,less slowdowns. But you still cannot change the weather people, the snow the rain etc. You want less slowdowns less holds but you do not want to cut down the number of flights. Because you do not want less competition. You would rather have the airlines just bumping along just scratching by.
And the point by anonymous that he made . Crew members are on furlough because they have no money to pay these people because of the loss of business passengers that payed the way of the low cost tickets.
Most of the time when your trapped on the tarmac it is because there is no place to bring the plane into,no gate because when you are taxing out for takeoff another plane lands and they go into your gate or air traffic control will not let me taxi back because i have a plane in front of me and behind me so there is no where to go, not their fault.
We can fix all your problems how about lets let the government regulate the airlines, set the number of flights, set ticket prices so the airlines are guaranteed to make money. Of course with that you have to expect some consequences from this action and they all wont be good.I know what your thinking your complaining about lost pay and etc ,quit wining , Well Im not complaining just stating the fact that affect your safety,these plane don't fly themselves. Your worried about some guys on their laptop but you don't even raise an eyebrow when the two southwest pilots took their cloths off while taxing their plane and called the flight attendant up there, now lets question judgment, but that's ok because they are the fun airline and they have $49 dollar fairs anywhere ,YA RIGHT.I am slowing switching careers from flying to plumbing, yes I now make more money being a plumber than being a pilot and I work when I want to and I don't have a 150 peoples lives in my hands.And their complaining.
And when I no longer fly as a pilot and am flying as a passenger I will not worry about the delays because I will know why and what the problem is. I will be worring about the pilots as well as the flight attendants that are working their tail off.16 hour days, which they are not getting paid for because they only get paid for the time the plane is moving and not the time they are work loading the plane off loading and in between flight they get nothing.I will worry about the crew members that ate playing the plane and have a great deal of stress at home because they do not have the paychecks like they use to and have the same pay that they did as they did in 1974.This what I will worry about and of course the federal deficit ,and the jokers in congress that should not be there .
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