Starting on April 29 of this year there will be a new rule for U.S. passengers stuck on a plane: The Department of Transportation will be able to fine airlines $27,500 per passenger on domestic flights that sit on the tarmac for more than three hours with passengers on board. I absolutely support this new rule and I think there is no excuse for having passengers wait on a plane for such a long time. But sometimes it is not the airlines' fault. Some major airports in the U.S. are just so over-strained that take-off slots get shuffled around and, sometimes, pilots only learn that their take-off time has been delayed when they already left the gate. Going back to the gate is not an option in some cases, since another plane may have taken it already. However, the Department of Transportation allows some airlines to apply for waivers to this new rule if they are based at airports that tend to be congested, such as pretty much all NYC airports. US Airways has filed an application for an exemption to this rule, since its Philadelphia hub is considered part of NYC's airspace.To read the CNN.com story on US Airways, please click here. To learn more about the new bill, please click here.
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