While a growing number of people are flying as a result of cheap airplane tickets and cheap vacation packages, littletends to upset fliers more than sitting on a tarmac for over three hourswaiting for their flights to depart.
The good news is that such extended runway delays fell torecord lows in 2014. Only 30 domesticflights had runway delays longer than three hours and 9 international flightsdeparting from U.S. airports experienced delays longer than four hours.
This is a dramatic turnaround from 2009, when 868 domesticflights experienced runway delays in excess of three hours. That was the last full year before governmentregulations went into effect forbidding U.S. airlines operating domesticflights from keeping passengers on planes delayed beyond three hours withoutfacing steep financial penalties.
The rule was implemented in April of 2010. The next year the rule was extended to applyto U.S. and foreign airlines operating international flights to or from theUnited States.
2014 numbers were a significant improvement from the prioryear when there were 84 domestic flights with runway delays in excess of threehours and 55 international flights with delays lasting over four hours at U.S.airports.
These runway delay rules were put in place to protectpassengers and have clearly succeeded, according to the Department ofTransportation.
www.cheapfares.com