Thu, Mar 11, 2010
Jet Blue, Delta Ask For A Reprieve From The Three Hour
Limit
With the main runway at JFK International Airport (KJFK) in
New York closed for repairs, a couple of airlines are asking that
DOT grant waivers at JFK on the three-hour tarmac delay limit set
to go into effect April 29.
CNN reports that Delta and Jet Blue have preemptively cut the
number of flights by 10 percent each in an effort to ease
congestion at the airport, already one of the most notorious for
delays at peak hours. But airport officials said when they closed
the runway for the construction project that it would likely cause
longer delays. The Bay Runway is not scheduled to reopen until
November. And with a $27,500 per passenger fine hanging in the
balance for a tarmac delay of more than three hours, the airlines
are looking for relief from a situation they say is out of their
hands.
"Due to the unforeseen nature and unpredictable operating
environment this closure could potentially create, the DOT
three-hour rule could have unintended consequences and result in
harming consumers rather than protecting their interests," JetBlue
said in a statement. Spokesman Mateo Lleras said that if a ground
stop were put on a flight due to weather, it could force the
airlines to return passengers to the gates by the thousands, and
that could result in cancelled flights. He said the rule could wind
up hurting consumers rather than protecting them.
But Kate Hanni, the founder of FlyersRights.org, says that
waivers should not be granted because of the construction at JFK.
"Rather than forcing consumers to change their plans by imposing
multi-hour delays on them due to some construction at JFK, the
commercial airlines should change their operations and scheduling
to adjust to temporarily lessened airport capacity," Hanni said in
a news release. "The construction at JFK has been in the works for
some time -- and improvement projects are a natural fact of life at
major airports -- we expect the DOT to enforce the 3 hour rule at
JFK and for all airlines to fully comply with it."
FlyersRights.org says it has long recommended that FAA and the
airlines work with airports to ensure that long anticipated
projects, like those to take place at JFK do not cause severe or
chronic delays for travelers. The three hour time period, which was
discussed and debated widely among experts, stakeholders and
regulators, was selected after taking factors such as improvement
projects, weather and other causes of delays into account.
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