Runway Delays Leave Passengers Up in the Air

Suppose your plane has left the gate and moved to the runway for takeoff. Buckled in, you wait for the plane to ascend. And wait. And wait.

Takeoff delays are common, and with the increasing amount of air traffic and airport congestion, it may take longer and longer for the planes to get off the ground.

How long can an airline keep passengers on a plane while it’s waiting to take off? What information, if any, must it provide to passengers during this process? How often must it update this information? Can a passenger who no longer wants to take the flight because of the delay get off the plane?

There are no answers to questions such as these because airlines are not regulated by the Department of Transportation in this area.

“The consumer doesn’t have any rights in this situation,” explained Con Hitchcock, a spokesman for the Aviation Consumer Action Project (ACAP) in Washington, D.C. “Legally, the airlines don’t have an obligation to provide information abut delays or to take you back to the gate upon your request.”

Airlines are controlled by the Federal Aviation Administration when it comes to safety. No offloading is allowed on runways. Planes return either to the gate or to an isolated part of the airport when a problem arises.

Some carriers, however, take it upon themselves to be more attentive than others in informing passengers about delays.

“We try to be up front with passengers and tell them the reason for the delay and its expected duration, if we know it,” said Vince Durocher, district director of marketing for Delta. “The pilot may be told 20 minutes, which then creeps into a longer delay. This happens a lot, but passengers will be updated as soon as the initial period is past.”

Serving drinks can be a problem while the aircraft is being held on the runway because the pilot wants to keep the plane ready for takeoff. “You can’t have drink carts in the aisles,” Durocher said.

In some cases, airlines have offered passengers vouchers for upgrades on their next flight.

Although airlines are not regulated on runway delays, the DOT does look at the accuracy of the information given to passengers.

“The airlines have an obligation, in a general sense, to provide accurate information,” a DOT spokesman said. “It’s quite possible to say there’ll be a 15-minute delay, which lasts much longer. That happens, but it can be a good-faith judgment.”

However, if it is established that an airline shows a pattern of deliberately underestimating the length of the delay in its announcements, the DOT would look into that charge.

“Passengers should realize that pilots are often dependent on the information they receive from the control tower,” said Dieter Stange, station manager for Lufthansa at Los Angeles International Airport.

“Because of their experience, pilots can generally make a very good estimate at how long a delay will be, especially from the number of planes in front of them.”

Airlines are not eager to return to the gate, lose their position in the takeoff order and risk losing passengers who no longer want -- or have the time -- to wait. If the plane is still at the gate, however, passengers do have the right to leave. Getting your checked baggage off in time could be another problem.

The strike by air controllers in 1981 had a substantial impact on delays.

“After the strike, the FAA wanted airlines to absorb delays on land, rather than in the air,” ACAP’s Hitchcock said.

Planes are now more likely to be delayed on the ground at the point of departure than in the air at the point of arrival.

Apart from weather, which can snarl an entire route, another factor that can create delays is the duty time of flight personnel. Time spent on a runway might force personnel to exceed the number of hours they are supposed to work.

“Following the duty time rules is an FAA requirement,” an FAA spokesman said. “If the delay on the runway eats into duty time, then a new crew would be required and the flight would be even more delayed.”

The same scenario is true for foreign airlines. “Our rule of thumb is that if the flight crew on the runway waits for takeoff for more than an hour and 15 minutes, this can mean returning to the gate for a new crew,” Stange said. “The German air authority has rules on how many hours a crew can work. If this situation came up, it would be explained to passengers.”

The issue of not being allowed to deplane after a plane has left the gate has been challenged.

In one case, James Abourezk, a former U.S. senator from South Dakota, was on a New York Air flight to New York City that was delayed for more than three hours on the runway in Washington, D.C.

Because the delay would cause him to miss a reception at the United Nations, Abourezk requested that he be returned to the gate and allowed to get off the plane. The request was turned down, and Abourezk flew to New York anyway, then took the first flight back to Washington.

After being denied a refund of his fare, and only receiving a form letter apologizing for the inconvenience, Abourezk sued the airline for false imprisonment. Resolution of the $200,000 suit still is pending, Abourezk said.

Most delays are caused by too many flights around peak periods, poor weather and maintenance problems.

“Jets bound on long international flights might get a little more consideration because of the flight’s duration and flight crew time limitations,” Stange said. “The controllers want to get these planes into the air as soon as possible and they won’t let a jet stay on the runway too long.”

All in all, there’s not much you can do about delays except be prepared. Take along a good book.