Serious. I absolutely hate it when we board the plans, taxi some and then have to wait on the tarmac. I hate it for three reasons:
1. They turn off the AC. It gets HOT on that plane.
2. Often I have a connection that I would like to make.
3. I know, just KNOW, that the only reason we pushed away was so the airline could count the flight as “on-time”
So yeah, I HATE waiting on the airplane. But what really would have me over the top angry would be an extended delay. The ones you hear about in the news where passengers are forced to wait for hours on the plane. I mean serious. Can you imagine waiting for 10 hours on that plane?
Jeepers.
With that said, I resonate with the spirit of the law that says:
airlines can be fined up to $27,500 per passenger if planes are delayed three hours and passengers can’t get off.
Really. If we are going to be delayed for that long, just lemme off. I can stretch, have a beer and let the kids run. But then again, if my flight is delayed I imagine that there must be a hundred or so planes behind me delayed too. So, if we go back to the terminal, we go back to the end of the line and we may never have the chance to take off.
So, how do airline companies react to the new law?
Smisek said … the government by God says, ‘We’re going to fine you $27,500.’ Here’s what we’re going to do: We’re going to cancel the flight.”
Because airlines have cut flights, leaving the remaining ones more crowded, passengers will have fewer chances to rebook on another flight. Passengers, he said, won’t get to their destinations “for maybe days.”
Uhh, wow. Now THAT’S not what I want either. What I would like is something in between. We can wait on the tarmac for awhile. 10 minutes is no big deal, 30 isn’t bad. 45-60 is tough; much more than that I am upset. But I would like to get to where I’m going.
In the end, I guess that the government can’t even do the things it SHOULD do well; pass laws. There has to be something better than this, I wonder if they’ll fix it?
Oh, yeah. Sometimes I wonder why were late to begin with, any clue?
long delays are rare, and mostly caused by an outdated air traffic control system that the government has failed to upgrade.
Nice. Government failing to fix a problem caused by something else the government failed to do.
Maybe health care will fix it.