Passenger right advocate Kate Hanni recalls third anniversary of American Airlines flight delay
Airline passenger rights advocate Kate Hanni said Tuesday she's celebrating the three-year anniversary of the date when she found herself stuck on a plane for 13 hours by applauding the passage of a new U.S. Department of Transportation rule that limits how long airlines can keep passengers waiting on the tarmac.
It was this particular day that prompted Hanni and other airline passengers to form FlyersRights.org to encourage the creation of regulations that ensure tarmac waiting limits do not exceed acceptable time frames.
Hanni finds the U.S. Department of Transportation's new rule limiting tarmac wait times to three hours appropriate. “I think we’ve been hugely successful,” she told the Dallas Business Journal.
While her group supports the new mandate specifying a three-hour waiting limit, an airline representative last week suggested that having a steadfast rule could have unintended consequences for passengers.
James May, chief executive officer of the Air Transport Association, which represents the principal U.S.-based airlines, said in a statement, “We will comply with the new rule even though we believe it will lead to unintended consequences — more canceled flights and greater passenger inconvenience. In particular, the requirement of having planes return to the gates within a three-hour window or face significant fines is inconsistent with our goal of completing as many flights as possible. Lengthy tarmac delays benefit no one.”
Hanni disagreed Tuesday. “They would not have given us the three-hour rule if they thought the majority of the passengers would be hurt by it," she said.
Hanni said in her experience, passengers are not going to delay flights that have a reasonable chance for take-off. She sees passengers acting reasonably within the context of the rule.
Even with the rule passed, Hanni said her group will continue to work with passengers.
“What our group does … we have some relationships with managers at various airports. When we have passengers in trouble, we will call in and ask for help. There is not always something we can do for people, but usually there is.”
Filed under: money by TheDoor