No price, regardless of how inexpensive cheap airplane tickets or cheap vacation packages are can offset the frustration of getting stranded on a runway for an extended undermined amount of time. Given the success the Department of Transportation (DOT) has had with combating domestic runway delays in excess of three hours at major U.S. airports, it is now considering expanding the rule to include small airports and international flights.
Extended flight delays of three hours or more were reduced by 98 percent between May through July because of the new runway delay rule that includes major airline penalties for failure to follow the rule.
International airlines have come out against expanding the runway rule, pointing to potential conflicts with international law, the relatively small number of flights they operate in the U.S., and the unintended negative impact increased flight cancellations may cause.
The bigger issue here is whether passenger rights should be covered under airlines customer service plans, which are discretionary guidelines describing what airlines hope to do, or part of their contracts of carriage, which entail legally binding agreements between airlines and their customers.
Congress needs to ultimately decide whether to re-regulate the airlines. No one is arguing for the government to tell the airlines where to fly and how much to charge which the government did up to 1978. Some fear additional regulations will result in more lawsuits, less differentiation among airlines and service levels dictated by the government vs. individual businesses and customer preferences.
Others believe that airline passenger rights can only be guaranteed through regulations and that any wiggle room left to airlines will result in customers suffering in the long run.
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