The new rule that "prohibits" U.S. airlines as of April 29 from keeping domestic passengers on airport tarmacs for more than three hours without an opportunity to deplane has collected critics and posed new challenges for carriers, airports and travelers. Faced with stiff penalties for noncompliance, carriers likely will cancel more flights, disrupting travel plans for untold numbers of passengers, according to various industry observers and airline executives. Continental and US Airways already adjusted policies to send back to departure gates airplanes that had been sitting on tarmacs at the two-hour and two-and-a-half hour marks, respectively.
Though severe tarmac delays generally occur at a handful of airports with a mix of the worst congestion and bad weather (with isolated incidents possible just about anywhere), ramifications of DOT's new rule could affect travelers in other cities waiting for delayed aircraft that may never come. New York airports, for example, are the most delay-prone in the national system, and given their roles as major stations for several carriers, delays at those facilities usually impact operations up and down the East Coast, into the Midwest and sometimes clear across the country. Rather than cancel flights at New York airports to avoid fines, several carriers have requested exemptions. DOT has yet to rule on those requests.
Other customer service rules finalized by the U.S. Department of Transportation that also take effect April 29 include requirements for airlines to offer food and drinking water "within two hours of the aircraft being delayed on the tarmac," maintain working lavatories and provide any necessary medical attention. Airlines also will be prohibited from "scheduling chronically delayed flights." Meanwhile, based on feedback from airline associations, DOT pushed back by 60 days to June 29 the requirement for carriers to post on their Web sites flight delay information.
The tarmac delays component has been the most controversial. Many expect more--not fewer--inconveniences for passengers, especially those willing to endure longer delays rather than return to departure gates and face flight cancellations.
"Because load factors are so high, if you are on a flight that is cancelled because of the three-hour tarmac rule, the likelihood of you being booked on any other flight that day, or the next, becomes excessively remote," said Airline Zone economist Darryl Jenkins, speaking last week during a webinar. "If you are at an airport that is having long tarmac delays, every airline is having long delays."
"Airlines will no doubt become much more proactive about canceling flights in threatening weather conditions," according to Business Travel Coalition chairman Kevin Mitchell. "A passenger who prepaid for a variety of ancillary services, and who suddenly has to fly on another carrier, will be stuck endeavoring, probably unsuccessfully, to secure refunds."
Some airline executives including Continental Airlines CEO Jeff Smisek have been upfront with their assertions that their carriers would be canceling more flights to avoid fines.
Though he said he doesn't expect DOT to hand out many $27,500 per passenger fines (the maximum allowed under the new rules) and instead suggested $1,000 per passenger would be a more likely penalty, Jenkins said pre-emptive flight cancellations would be "the 100 percent correct economic decision." Otherwise, he said, the total fines paid by an airline would far exceed any profits that carrier could hope to generate from that flight.
Jenkins raised other questions about a rule he said is fundamentally flawed. "How can the government issue a rule when there are no protocols in place to make sure the rule is even valid?" he asked. "It's not taking one plane out of line, but 20. Where do you put them? What about the incoming flights that have to be diverted or cancelled? What about connecting passengers on that delayed flight? If travelers are inconvenienced, why does the government get the money? That makes no sense at all."
Protecting Against The Protections
"To protect itself from being fined," US Airways will use "trigger points to monitor delay times," it wrote in an employee newsletter issued April 2. "If a plane is out on the taxiway for two-and-a-half hours, and takeoff isn't imminent, the pilots will make an announcement and return to the gate."
Leading up to that announcement, and starting after a one-hour delay, US Airways personnel will follow certain protocols, including communication with the station manager, formulation of a specific plan ("i.e. return to gate, buses or airstairs, etc.") and ultimately a decision by the "Passenger Advocate in the Operations Control Center ... to return to gate, park in remote location or stay in line." US Airways also wrote that it would provide beverage and snack service at the 90-minute mark of an onboard delay, "along with announcements made every 15 minutes to keep passengers informed."
The carrier, which on April 1 began these new policies and procedures to "knock all the kinks out, said 193 of the 1 million-plus flights it operated in 2009 experienced delays more than three hours, "almost half of which occurred on four storm days."
Continental as of April 1 is taking an even more cautious approach. "At the two-hour mark, if a pilot anticipates that the flight will not be able to take off prior to the three-hour mark, the pilot will begin to enact a contingency plan," according to a spokesman. "The pilot contacts Continental's operations center to work with the local operations management and the FAA, to reposition the aircraft at either a remote area or gate, where customers may deplane safely and securely."
At American, the only real change, according to a spokesman, is a "rigid" three-hour deadline, down from the carrier's own, more flexible four-hour guideline, established in 2006. "There is less flexibility to judge each situation case by case. You have to give yourself plenty of time to get back to that gate," he said. "Under the new rule, we won't be able to do what our customers tell us they most want to. They prefer to be late but get there."
At Southwest, the "Operations Command Center tracks all Southwest flights across the system to prevent such delays," according to a spokeswoman. "With the new rules coming down the pipeline, that group has been working to identify any changes we might need to make to tools, processes or policies."
A JetBlue spokeswoman said the carrier "will continue to provide, as we do every day ... sufficient food and beverages during a ground delay as well as access to lavatories and working televisions." Though she added that JetBlue has "every intention of complying" with new tarmac delay rules, she did not explain any new procedures the airline is considering.
Delta "will comply with the DOT rule," according to a spokesman, but is "not currently providing details."
A United official did not respond to a request for comment
Seeking Exemptions In New York, Philadelphia
American, Continental and JetBlue are seeking exemptions from enforcement through Dec. 1 rules on lengthy tarmac delays at New York City area airports, which use some of the world's most complicated, high-volume airspace. At New York JFK, a construction project through November on the Bay Runway, which according to JetBlue handles "41 percent of JFK's total traffic," may exacerbate the airport's congestion problems and further challenge carriers to comply with new federal rules.
US Airways submitted a similar request for Philadelphia International Airport because it shares the same airspace as New York-area airports and "has the same congestion challenges" as Newark, LaGuardia and JFK airports.
DOT through April 9 is accepting public comments to help decide whether to grant airline exemption requests.
'Little Guidance' From DOT
Airports also have a role to play, in terms of developing their own contingency plans for lengthy delays and closely coordinating with airlines. At Newark, though, "we have received very little guidance from the Department of Transportation on how [the new set of rules] is actually going to work," said John Jacoby, Port Authority of New York and New Jersey general manager for Newark Liberty and Teterboro, speaking at a New Jersey Business Travel Association meeting last month. "Until we start the program, the impact will not be clear. What happens when we have five or six aircraft coming back to gates but we don't have gates [because] there are no departures and airplanes aren't leaving their gates. I only have so many buses. How do we manage that?"
Jacoby said he expects more guidance from DOT in June.
According to Airline Zone's Jenkins, the closer coordination between airports and airlines that will be required is the "one good thing" to come from DOT's new rules.
Resources:
U.S. government Federal eRulemaking Portal. For filings related to tarmac delay rules and other DOT-mandated aviation consumer protections, refer to docket number DOT-OST-2007-0022.