DOT imposes 3-hour rule for tarmac delays

Remember the fight earlier this year over a passenger bill-of-rights? What Congress didn't do with legislation the Department of Transportation has done by regulation: Airlines can no longer strand passengers on planes on airport tarmacs for more than three hours without a good safety or security reason. Heavy fines could follow violations. DOT went further and said it would flag airlines that operate chronically late flights for deceptive trade practices.

The airlines think hard-and-fast rules on tarmac delays are a bad idea and will lead to more cancellations and other "unintended consequences." The rest of us "customers" think it's about time airlines were required to do the right thing for those it calls "passengers." Read more about what DOT did here.