Nothing out there defines the phrase ‘Hurry Up And Wait’ quite like air travel, does it fellow passengers? We hurry to pack the night before, hurry to get to the airport in the allotted 3 hours before departure time frame, hurry to get the luggage out and park and then hurry in to the terminal – only to begin the waiting. Wait in line at the ticket counter, wait in line to get through airport security, wait in line for old airport coffee and a stale airport Danish. Whew! Only one-and-a-half hours left to wait to board the plane!
Then, finally, “Attention all passengers, your flight will now begin boarding…” Hurry! Grab your things! Get in line! What are we – A thru G? H thru M? Our turn! Find your seat! Stow your luggage! Sit down and buckle up!
So now it should be: Hurry up and take off! Right? Right?
Uh oh – “We’re sorry airline passengers, there’s been a delay and we have to wait. . .”
Surely you’ve heard the absolute horror stories of passenger aircraft full of paying customers sitting on (or should we say ‘Parked’) the tarmac for 4, 6, sometimes 10 or more hours. These passengers who have been hijacked by the airline are subjected to almost tortuous conditions – little food (hey – airline food is better than nothing in this situation!), little water, and even lavatory situations we care not to mention.
Fortunately, our concerns have been heard and acted upon. According to a recent Department of Transportation press release, a new rule has been made which will “significantly strengthen protections afforded to consumers by … establishing a hard time limit after which U.S. Airlines must allow passengers to deplane from domestic flights.” That time limit has initially been set at 3 hours. “Airline passengers have rights, and these new rules will require airlines to live up to their obligation to treat their customers fairly,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said.
There are also other excellent provisions provided for that help protect airline passengers. You can view the full press release here: http://www.dot.gov/affairs/2009/dot19909.htm
Also, from the Regulations.gov website, you can view the final rule on Enhancing Airline Passenger Protections as set forth by the DOT which will go into effect April 29, 2010.
http://www.regulations.gov/search/Regs/home.html#documentDetail?R=0900006480a7413a
As your Spite Attendants, we recommend you print copies of these and keep them in your luggage. If your airline is in violation and you can’t get them to comply, pack extra copies for the other passengers and read them aloud in unison. Now THAT would make for some interesting (and effective) YouTube.
