Airline passengers got an early Christmas present today--the DOT has barred airlines from keeping passengers on the tarmac for long periods.
In what one advocate called "a Christmas miracle for airline passengers," the Department of Transportation on Monday announced a rule prohibiting U.S. aircraft on domestic routes from remaining on a tarmac for more than three hours with travelers aboard.
"Airline passengers have rights, and these new rules will require airlines to live up to their obligation to treat their customers fairly," Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said in a statement.
The only times airlines would be allowed to keep passengers on a plane for that long would be for safety or security reasons, or if the tower tells the pilots that sending passengers back to the terminal would be disruptive.
Airlines are now required to provide food and water to passengers who are stuck for two hours, and also provide access to restrooms and medical attention. The new rule is similar to European rules for stranded passengers.
The airlines aren't happy about it, though.
After Monday's announcement, James May, president and CEO of the Air Transport Association, issued 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." The association represents the principal U.S. airlines.
"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," May said.
Pretty hard to have any sympathy for the airlines after seeing stories like this:
In one of the most high-profile recent incidents, 47 passengers spent nearly six hours overnight on a Rochester, Minnesota, tarmac in August, with only pretzels to eat.
"We were not offered food. We were not offered water," passengers Link Christin testified in September at an unofficial Capitol Hill hearing sponsored by advocates for a passenger bill of rights.
"The toilet broke at 3 o'clock in the morning, and it was impossible to sleep," he testified.
CNN has more horror stories here, as well as video of what the passengers on that Continental flight had to endure.