Airline delays which leave passengers sitting on the tarmac for hours can be a pain, but they also hurt Airlines. An airline received a hefty fine for excessive tarmac delays in December of 2012. American Eagle Airlines was hit by a $200,000 fine by the United States Department of Transportation.
On Christmas Day 2012, a plane from Baton Rouge, Louisiana landed at Dallas-Fort Worth during a snow storm at around 3:30 p.m. However the 37 passengers on board weren't allowed off the aircraft until four and a half hours later, Business Insider reports.
That wasn't the only flight in which passengers were stuck for several hours. On an earlier flight, 42 passengers were kept on the plane for three hours and 48 minutes. The DOT has a three hour limit for airlines to keep passengers on planes on the tarmac.
"Airline passengers have rights, and the Department of Transportation has rules in place to protect them from being stuck on a tarmac waiting hours to get off their plane," said U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx according to WIBW. "We will continue to take enforcement action when airlines violate our tarmac delay rules."
In addition to the fine, American Airlines, which is affiliated with American Eagle Airlines, was ordered by the DOT to cease and desist from any more tarmac rule violations.
While the passengers are the ones that had to deal with the delays, they won't benefit from the $200,000 fine. The money will go to the US Treasury. The agency cannot force the airline to compensate for their customers, but the airline may have given some sort of compensation after the delay at the time.
This isn't the first time American Eagle Airlines was hit with a fine for lengthy delays. In fact, they had to pay even more in 2011 due to long delays at Chicago O'Hare International Airport. The DOT fined the airline $900,000.
This article is copyrighted by Travelers Today, the travel news leader
