Freeing Fliers Imprisoned on the Tarmac

SEPTEMBER 24, 2009

Freeing Fliers Imprisoned on the Tarmac

By SCOTT MCCARTNEY
WSJ


Listen up, airlines: You need to fix the problem of leaving people stranded on miserable, smelly airplanes with little food, water or patience—and you can. Lots of your peers say so. Despite repeated high-profile meltdowns, the U.S. air transportation system, including airlines, airports and government, hasn't moved to solve this problem. Ten years ago, planeloads of Northwest Airlines passengers were stranded up to eight and a half hours in a Detroit snowstorm. Last month, a planeload of Continental Airlines customers was stranded overnight aboard a regional jet in Minnesota; the toilet broke at 3 a.m. An American Airlines jet sat for nine hours in Austin, Texas, in 2006. JetBlue Airways left customers marooned for 10 hours or more in a 2007 ice storm.

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On Tuesday, a diverse group of aviation professionals gathered in Washington to debate solutions, including urging Congress to force airlines to give passengers the option of leaving a plane after three hours of runway jail. In conversations outside the staged event, these engineers, former airline executives, airport managers and pilots' union leaders offered common-sense solutions... Aviation experts say the problem of stranded passengers has intensified in part because airlines, under financial pressure, are relying on greater numbers of smaller planes, which they can pack with more people. They try harder to avoid cancellations because it is more difficult to re-book passengers. And layoffs and buyouts have sapped many airports and operations centers of veteran employees and enough workers to shepherd planes in and out of gates.

Mr. Doughty's current airport in Allentown, Pa., frequently gets flights diverted from Newark, N.J., and Philadelphia. The airport bought a used school bus and a separate wheelchair lift so that passengers who want to get off after a long delay can do so. Total cost: less than $100,000. Dallas-Fort Worth International Airport has taken similar steps on a bigger scale. The airport purchased a covered staircase and buses to take people from parked aircraft to terminals, plus a catering truck that rises up to airplane doors to unload people in wheelchairs who can't go down stairs, according to James Crites, DFW's executive vice president of operations. Indeed, some experts say airports should set up an area where long-delayed flights could taxi up to and unload passengers who want to abandon the trip or wait for another flight, then continue on with the rest of the passengers, much as they do for de-icing in winter. In Europe and much of the rest of the world, remote parking and busing operations are common. But not in the U.S.
Laser-Guided Solutions

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But waiting for voluntary fixes hasn't worked. Several aviation veterans say they have come to believe, sometimes reluctantly, that Congress should limit how long people can be held on airplanes without a chance to get off a plane. Such a limit would force carriers, airports and the Federal Aviation Administration to come up with real solutions, they say... Legislation making its way through Congress would require airlines to offer passengers the opportunity to get off a plane every three hours that it sits. That would happen only if the captain thought it safe to de-board. Thirty-minute extensions would be possible if the captain reasonably believed the plane would take off within that time.

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Amy Cohn, an assistant professor of engineering at the University of Michigan, who has studied the airline industry for 18 years, cautions that a three-hour limit itself won't affect lots of flights because there will always be lots of exceptions. In thunderstorms, for example, the rule wouldn't help at most airports because ground workers have to go indoors and it may not be safe to unload passengers. And in snowstorms, gates or remote stairs and buses may not be available. Ms. Cohn would rather see the industry reduce the congestion that escalates delays in the first place and improve communications so airlines can provide each other greater assistance when needed. She also recommends that airports be reconfigured so they have ways to safely unload planes in any weather conditions. Different plans should be developed to handle flights delayed trying to take off, flights delayed getting to a gate after landing and flights diverted to another airport by bad weather, she says.

And as a last resort, some aviation officials say: A hotline for workers—or even customers—to alert an airline CEO to a massive mess. If low-level employees aren't solving the problem, maybe the boss needs to know.

http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052970203803904574430960677466206.html (subscription)


Printed in The Wall Street Journal, page D1

to apologize for a 15 minute departure delay.

...the phone number of the President of the airline, and the phone number of one of the TV networks. If you get stuck for an extended period, call the airline, and let them know that if they don't solve the problem ASAP, you'll be calling the media (seriously, this approach was used one on a Northwest flight trapped on the tarmac).

and the irony was that they found the home phone number of the NW CEO... in the NW magazine.

Either way, get on the plane also with a bottle of water and several energy bars. And don't be tempted to use them until safely at your destination terminal.