tarmac

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Airline Hit With $900K Fine for Tarmac Waits

American Eagle first to be fined under new policy

(Newser) - American Eagle Airlines has been hit with the first fine issued under new rules prohibiting airlines from keeping passengers stuck in planes on the tarmac for more than three hours. The regional carrier was fined $900,000 for keeping a total 608 passengers on board 15 different flights on the...

Air India Fliers Stuck on Plane for 8 Hours

Waiting to be cleared to fly from London to ... London

(Newser) - Stunned Air India passengers found themselves trapped for eight hours on a fogbound plane sitting on the tarmac in London's Gatwick Airport. The real kicker? The flight's final destination was London's Heathrow Airport, just minutes away. As fury mounted, police were called to keep the peace, reports...

Ryanair Crew Locks Toilets as Passengers Stage Sit-In

Passengers say they were left on Tarmac for four hours

(Newser) - A Ryanair crew used some harsh tactics to put down a passenger mutiny last night. When passengers refused to leave their plane—which had landed in the wrong country—they say the crew locked the bathrooms, turned out the lights, and left them sitting on the tarmac for four hours...

Video Captures Slater's Slide Into History

Flight attendant makes getaway down emergency chute

(Newser) - The angle is terrible, but video of Steven Slater's trip down an emergency slide onto the JFK Airport tarmac and into the hearts of thousands has been released. The large vertical object covering most of the action obscures the telling details like the beers Slater grabbed from the galley before...

Passenger Complains of 3-Hour Wait on 100° Plane

He films it all on his phone

(Newser) - Ever had to sit on the tarmac waiting for your plane to take off for three hours? Sucks right? Now imagine you’re in Arizona on a hundred-degree day and there’s no air conditioning on the plane. That’s what happened to Tony Morales on Sunday at Sky Harbor...

Airlines Beg for Break on 3-Hour Tarmac Rule

American joins JetBlue, Delta in petitioning DOT

(Newser) - Add American Airlines to the list of carriers that want out of the government's new rule that limits the time passengers can be held on the tarmac. American has joined JetBlue and Delta in filing for a temporary exemption with the Department of Transportation, saying delays caused by the closure...

Hellish Flight Takes 16 Hours From LAX to JFK

Passengers forced to take bus for last two hours

(Newser) - Flights don’t get much worse than Virgin America Flight 404, which took 16 long hours to get from LAX to JFK. The plane was supposed to land in New York at 3:30pm, but high winds forced it to circle for hours. Finally it landed in Newburgh, 90 miles...

White House Sets 3-Hour Limit on Tarmac Waits

Passengers must be allowed to deplane under new regulation

(Newser) - The Transportation Department is ordering airlines to let passengers stuck in stranded airplanes to deplane after three hours. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood announced the new three-hour limit today, along with other new passenger protections long sought by consumer advocates. From January to June this year, 613 planes were delayed on...

White House Probes Minn. Plane Stranding

Incident 'troubling': transportation sec.

(Newser) - The Obama administration is investigating last weekend’s 9-hour stranding of 47 passengers on a Minnesota airport tarmac, the AP reports. Transportation Secretary Ray Lahood says his department's general counsel is determining whether laws were broken in the case. “While we don't yet have all the facts, this incident...

47 Trapped on 9-Hour 'Nightmare' Flight

(Newser) - If 9 hours on a grounded puddle-jumper with screaming babies and the scent of overly busy toilets wafting through cramped aisles sounds like your idea of a good time, then Continental Airlines had your ticket to paradise. When storms forced a Minneapolis-bound flight to divert to Rochester, Minn., on Friday,...

Poodle Runway Runaway Delays Flights 17 Hours

Dog cavorts at Boston's Logan

(Newser) - A toy poodle got loose on the tarmac of Boston's Logan Airport and eluded state police and airport officials for 17 hours as planes were delayed, reports the Boston Globe. Eight flights were held about 20 minutes each, an official said, as passengers watched the poodle, named Choochy, cavorting on...

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