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In case anyone was wondering about how serious the U.S. Department of Transportation was treating the problem of passengers getting stranded on the tarmac, the question has been answered. The U.S. DOT has fined American Eagle, which handles short hop flights for American Airlines, $900,000 for stranding passengers for hours on planes in Chicago in May. Holiday travelers can rejoice in that they can expect fewer delays. Anyone with a job as a flight attendant also can breathe a sigh of relief, knowing the task of keeping hundreds of passengers comfortable should get easier. It’s difficult enough to help passengers on a long flight, but add a long delay on the tarmac before they can take off and it can get really tense. The American Eagle action occurred in May with hundreds of passengers on 15 flights getting stranded for more than three hours. The new rule that resulted in the fine was implemented in April 2010 by the U.S. DOT. No airline can strand passengers on domestic flights on the tarmac for more than 3 hours. If the delay gets to the 3-hour mark, the plane must return to the terminal or provide some means for passengers to deplane. The fine is up to $27,500 per passenger. The rule now extends to international flights, which have a 4-hour limit. American Eagle blamed the delay on the weather. It has to pay $650,000 in 30 days, but the rest can be covered by the credits it has already given passengers or will give in the future for delays. The horror stories that led to the new rule probably were a nightmare scenario for someone with a job as a flight attendant. -- Snow and ice on Valentine’s Day 2007 left hundreds of passengers stranded for up to 10.5 hours on 10 JetBlue Airways planes at John F. Kennedy International Airport. -- A small Continental Express plane, with a stinking toilet and crying babies, was where 47 passengers were stuck overnight after a another airline’s employee refused to let them inside the closed airport terminal in Rochester, Minn., which they had been diverted to because of thunderstorms. The new rule and the threat of the hefty fine already had done some good. Between May 2010 and April 2011, there were 20 tarmac delays of more than 3 hours, compared to 693 delays in the previous 12 months. In a job as a flight attendant, so much of the success of the job depends on the efficient execution of a flight plan. Getting the plane up in the air and back on the ground with no delays is a big part of that success. You can start your job as a flight attendant at The Airline Academy, the Daytona Beach-based training school provides a quality education in customer service for airlines.
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