Yes, it’s a crisis of privilege, as many in the world endure far worse things, but being stuck for hours in an airplane marooned on the tarmac is nobody’s idea of a good time.
Yet this week, our good friends at the federal government dodged a chance to help. Instead, a task force (insert groan here) issued voluntary guidelines to airlines regarding just how long passengers should be kept waiting.
Meanwhile, Department of Transportation officials say a separate process is meant to settle on a rule that would require airlines and airports to have contingency plans and time limits. But the process of federal rule-making isn’t a speedy one.
Though the issue likely won’t supplant some of the more pressing problems waiting for the new administration, we hope President-elect Barack Obama selects a Transportation secretary with more backbone.
It was roughly this time last year we started reading the stories of passengers at some airlines stuck for more than eight hours on the runway. Bad weather, holiday traffic and packed flights contribute to the problem, but at some point airlines should realize you shouldn’t hold paying customers hostage.
Only last June, according to a New York Times report, there were 462 flights kept waiting on runways for more than three hours.
That’s just ghastly, and it’s equally ghastly that the task force, dominated by representatives of the airline industry, came up with at best cosmetic solutions — including making water available to stranded passengers and attempting to keep the toilets open.
Inspectors general for Transportation found in a recent report that some airlines have no formal policy to allow passengers to leave planes stuck on the runway and airlines that do have a range of times that extend to five hours.
The IG report suggested a uniform time limit be set, and we agree. Passenger advocates set the limit at three hours, which seems more than reasonable.
Dependable air service is critical to life in the 21st century, and passengers ought to have clear rights regarding how they are treated when delays inevitably occur.
