We all hate waiting in airplanes when they’re parked at the gate and the door is closed, especially when those delays last for hours. In 2010 the US Dept of Transportation instituted rules which imposed steep fines on airlines if their planes were on the tarmac for more than 3 hours without giving passengers a chance to deplane. A lot of people favored this legislation, but has it really helped?
A study by MIT and Darthmouth showed that after the rule was implemented, passengers faced longer overall delays than before. Some airlines have been fined because they exceeded the three-hour limit, but most have been able to adjust. The study showed that while tarmac delays are less long than before, there are now increased numbers of delays and more cancellations that occur before boarding the aircraft. So it seems airlines, if they think there’s a danger of breaking the 3 hour limit and in order to avoid the fines, cancel the flights or delay the boarding process (neither of which triggers a fine). That the airlines have adapted in this manner should not surprise anyone — it makes good business sense.
When the data was tallied, passengers averaged three more minutes of in-airport delays for every minute saved in tarmac delays.
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