Airlines Want To Continue Abusing Passengers

Air travel in this country used to be a fast and fairly enjoyable way to travel. There were few delays and the airlines actually treated customers like they wanted to keep their business. Of course, that was a long time ago. Today, airlines treat their passengers more like cattle being hauled to the slaughter house.

At some airports, airlines over-schedule their flights and leave their passengers sitting on the tarmac for hours at a time. There have been times when passengers had to sit cooped-up in an airplane on the tarmac for 9-12 hours. And there's nothing a passenger can do once in the plane. If they complain too much, the airline will have them arrested for disrupting a flight (even though the plane hasn't even tried to get in the air).

Fortunately, the federal government is coming to the rescue (sort of). Starting next month, new rules go into effect that will fine an airline up to $27,500 per passenger for every passenger that has to sit on the tarmac longer than three hours. That's still too long, but it's not as bad as many waiting times right now.

This might actually get the airlines' attention and cut out many delays. Just think, a Boeing 737 (pictured) with a full load of passengers could be fined nearly $4 million, and a Boeing 777 could get a fine of $8.9 million. Fines like this could play hell with a company's bottom line, especially if it happened repeatedly.

So how have the airlines reacted? Have they adjusted their scheduling to avoid the torturous delays that passengers must suffer on the tarmac? Not at all. They have asked to be exempted from the new rule. American Airlines, JetBlue and Delta have all asked for exemptions so they can continue to torture their passengers. And guess what? They just happen to be the airlines that keep passengers waiting on the tarmac the most.

These are the guys the new rules were written for, and there is no way they should receive any exemption for any amount of time. The rules were written to protect passengers -- not airline profits. The rule should start next month as planned, and should apply to all airlines -- with no exemptions.

The passengers are helpless in this situation, but the airlines are not. They can adjust their scheduling to prevent these ridiculous delays, and they should be forced to do so (or fined severely).