ACROSS AMERICA — A fellow recently opened the emergency exit and walked out onto the wing of a plane while it was waiting for takeoff from a Mexico City airport — a perhaps extreme response to a common issue for travelers worldwide.
In this particular incident, 77 other passengers aboard the airplane for more than four hours without water or ventilation signed a statement backing the wing walker, saying he acted “to protect everyone, with the support of everyone.” The stunt delayed the flight even more because the airline had to switch planes. By the way, after taking one for the team, the passenger surrendered himself to airport authorities.
What would you do in this situation? Frequent travelers accept some delays as inevitable, but many wonder why airline board passengers when they know the flight is going to be delayed or canceled because of weather. We want to know your experiences with and thoughts about tarmac delays for Flightmares, an exclusive Patch feature on fight etiquette.
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Before you respond to our informal survey below, here are a few things to think about:
In the United States, tarmac delay rules require that airlines begin moving departing planes to an area where passengers can safely get off after three hours in a stationary position on domestic flights and four hours on international flights. The tarmac delay rules in Mexico are consistent with U.S. DOT rules.
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The issue has been festering for years.
Last August, the Transportation Department hit American Airlines with a $4.1 million fine, the largest civil penalty the agency had ever assessed, for lengthy tarmac delays on 43 flights that affected 5,800 passengers between 2018 and 2021.
Delays still happen, though. Passengers on a United Airlines flight departing Newark, New Jersey, for Rome were trapped for seven hours on a sweltering plane without air conditioning, during which they time they were offered little in the way of food or water. The flight was eventually cancelled around federal airline rules around flight crew duty hours.
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Also in August, passengers aboard a Delta Air Lines flight from the Bahamas to Atlanta were weather-diverted to Savanah. There, they were stuck for about four hours on the tarmac with no water, food or access to a bathroom because there were no customs personnel at the airport, the Customs and Border Protection said in a statement.
Passengers were processed quickly in 39 minutes were processed within 39 minutes once customs officials arrived, but passengers flying on to another airport told WJCL News they were delayed several more hours because the crew had to switch off.
Now, take a few moments to fill out the survey. You don’t need to give us your email address, because we don’t collect them.
About Flightmares
Flightmares is an exclusive Patch feature on flight etiquette — and readers provide the answers. It will appear monthly on Patch. If you have a topic you’d like for us to consider, email beth.dalbey@patch.com with “Flightmares” as the subject line.
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