The pleasure in purchasing cheap airplane tickets and discount hotel rooms is greatly reduced when the flight you were scheduled to take is cancelled. Airlines are expected to cancel significantly more flights going forward in order to avoid million dollar fines for leaving passengers stranded on runways for extended period of times.
In December the DOT (Department of Transportation) announced new tarmac delay rules that go into effect April 29th that would fine airlines up to $27,500 per passenger for runway delays in excess of three hours.
Cancellations cost much less than huge fines, particularly when you consider that seats are prepaid and airlines save fuel when they dont fly.
In a sign of things to come, you only need to look at JetBlue which changed its policy concerning tarmac delays after nine of its jets were left on a runway for six hours in a snow and ice storm at JFK on Valentines Day in 2007. In 05 and 06 JetBlue canceled at average of 254 flights per year. Once it instituted their new policy whereby no plane could sit on a runway for over four hours its average flight cancellations jumped to 1,223 per year.
The passengers who would otherwise be stranded on runways for extended periods of time are the winners with the new DOT tarmac rules, but how many passengers will be the losers as they try to find space on later flights that may already be full? The only hope is that the airlines dont act too quickly to cancel too many flights that could ultimately depart within the three hour maximum runway delay window. www.cheapfares.com