0 Tarmac Delays of Over 3 Hours for November!
Two months of 0 Tarmac Strandings for Domestic Flights, isn't it time Passengers on International flights have the same rights?
NAPA, Calif., Jan. 11, 2011 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- Flyersrights.org: Today newly released data from U.S. Department of Transportation clearly demonstrates significant success for the DOT's 3 Hour Tarmac Rule for domestic flights, enacted in April 29, 2010. The commercial airlines continue to claim that the 3 Hour Rule, which requires that commercial aircraft return to the gate after a period of 3 hours of delay on the tarmac, would cause mass cancellations and virtual Armageddon for airline passengers. This ignores the fact that international flights, which are currently not subjected to the Rule, were stranded en masse at JFK airport two weeks ago for up to 12 hours on the tarmac because they aren't afforded the protections that our domestic flights are afforded.
"The horrifying stories of stranded international flights over the holidays, with passengers in some cases being forced against their will to sit on aircraft for 12 hours after a 14 hour flight, were completely avoidable," said Kate Hanni, Executive Director FlyersRights.org. "The rights that people in this country enjoy are not based upon their point of origin but rather on principle and values of common decency—denying people access to food, water and medications over long periods of time is just plain wrong and must be stopped regardless of where a flight originates."
"Airline Passengers are human beings, not cargo, and they must be afforded certain basic human rights when traveling by air," added Hanni.
The Air Travel Consumer Report can be found on DOT's World Wide Web site at http://airconsumer.dot.gov. It is available in "pdf" and Microsoft Word format.
November was the second month in a row that the nation's largest airlines reported no flights with tarmac delays of more than three hours, while the carriers reported only a slight increase in the rate of canceled flights during the month, according to the Air Travel Consumer Report released today by the U.S. Department of Transportation (DOT). This past October and November were the only months with no tarmac delays of more than three hours by the reporting carriers since the Department began collecting more comprehensive tarmac delay data in October 2008.
"The DOT has hit a home run for travelers with the 3 hour rule. We hope they move swiftly to announce their new rule further enhancing airline passengers rights by giving International flights the same protections afforded our domestic flights."
"While the Regulation is an important protection, its vital that the new Congress move quickly to both include the airline passengers bill of rights in the FAA Modernization Bill and pass it quickly so that airline passengers have permanent, enforceable and sustainable rights," said Kate Hanni
You do the math: Following link is a Ranking of Airline Performance since 1995: http://www.flyersrights.org/table.pdf.
FlyersRights.org with a full time 24/7 FREE hotline; volunteers ready to help 24/7 1-877-359-3776.
http://www.strandedpassengers.blogspot.com
SOURCE FlyersRights.org
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