Get Me Off This Plane! Readers Vent About Tarmac Delays [Flightmares]

ACROSS AMERICA — Tarmac delays have become a frustratingly normal part of travel.

Unless security, safety and air traffic control issues prevent it, passengers must be given the option to deplane if flights are delayed beyond limits set in new rules imposed last year — three hours for domestic flights and four hours for international flights.

Readers who answered our informal survey for Flightmares, an exclusive Patch feature on fight etiquette, think that’s too long to sit on a plane that isn’t moving, may not have air conditioning, water and lavatories available.

“The tension and anxiety brought on while sitting in silence without food, water and bathrooms was barbaric and unacceptable,” said Across America Patch reader Sidney, who called the delay “hell on earth.”

“I have several health issues and find it too difficult to fly since my last bad experience,” Sidney continued. “This has taken travel away from me.”

Sidney added, in all caps, “NOT FAIR!”

Across Massachusetts Patch reader Danielle described a frustrating delay of more than two hours as she was leaving a vacation in Cancun. That’s below the three-hour threshold set in tarmac delay rules in both Mexico and the United States, but still “brutal,” she said, adding she “can’t even imagine any longer than that.”

“After a very long time waiting and wondering why we weren’t taking off, they announced the flight manifest did not match the number of people on board,” she said. “Then, a while later, they said they had it right and we’d be taking off shortly.

“Then we waited and waited some more,” Danielle continued, “and then they announced again that, in fact, it was still incorrect.”

Without elaborating, Patch readers Suzan and David called the extended delays they endured on separate flights “awful” and “frustrating.” David thinks when the delay lasts more than 30 minutes, front and back doors should be opened for ventilation and passengers should be offered complimentary snacks and water.

“Offer water,” Los Alamitos-Seal Beach (California) Patch reader Vicki said. “Make sure bathrooms are available.”

And make sure it’s cold water, New Haven (Connecticut) Patch reader Therese said.

Morristown (New Jersey) Patch reader Bob thinks passengers should be allowed to get off the plane if it hasn’t moved in two hours. At the very least, the air conditioning should be powered on, Bob said.

Roger, a Joliet (Illinois) Patch reader, recalled a three-hour delay on a domestic flight several years ago. People made the most of the situation, he said. After some time had passed, Roger said, “they did start rolling the beverage carts and people were ordering twofers.”

“This was before we entered the ‘age of rage,’ as I like to call the last decade or so, and everyone was in high spirits, so to speak,” Roger continued. “I’m not sure that’s a good idea nowadays with all the adult tantrums that get thrown on flights. I don’t know if it would be better to have them raging on the tarmac or raging in the terminal.”

Roger doesn’t like it, but since federal rules require airlines to allow passengers on domestic flights to get off the airplane after three hours, he can’t quibble.

“But anything after an hour, the flight crew should be bending over backward to keep people calm and comfortable,” he said.

• Also In Flightmares: Boeing Door Blowouts Cause Turbulence

U.S. Department of Transportation data on tarmac delays lags by a few months, but the most recent report suggests the number exceeding the agency’s standards is decreasing. They still happen, though.

There were two tarmac delays greater than three hours on domestic flights in November, six in October, and 57 in September, for a total of 65. During the period, there were less than half as many international flight delays
International flight delays during the same period, there were about 30 tarmac delays on international flights that were longer than four hours.

The issue has been festering for years.

Last August, the Transportation Department hit American Airlines with a $4.1 million fine, the largest civil penalty the agency had ever assessed, for lengthy tarmac delays on 43 flights that affected 5,800 passengers between 2018 and 2021.

About Flightmares

Flightmares is an exclusive Patch feature on flight etiquette — and readers provide the answers. It will appear monthly on Patch. If you have a topic you'd like for us to consider, email beth.dalbey@patch.com with “Flightmares” as the subject line.

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