The federal government is fining American Airlines $4.1 million for dozens of instances in which passengers were kept on board planes without a chance to exit during long ground delays.
A U.S. Department of Transportation investigation found that between 2018 and 2021, the Fort Worth-based carrier left about 5,800 passengers stuck on the tarmac for hours without letting them off, according to a DOT press release.
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WATCH HEREMost of the incidents occurred at DFW Airport.
The delay violates rules prohibiting delays of three hours or more, according to the agency. In some cases, passengers were left without food and water.
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“That’s $4 million dollars worth of American Airlines money that is going to pay for a management mistake,” said American Airlines Capt. Dennis Tajer. “Shame on you and don’t let it happen again.”
Tajer has been an American pilot for over 30 years and is the spokesman for the Allied Pilots Association which represents 15,000 AA pilots.
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“I’m certain that the pilots on those airplanes and the flight attendants on those flights were like ‘get us off of this thing,’” he said. “They weren’t thinking about the fin, they were thinking ‘These people have got to get off this plane.’”
Tajer recounted one such ‘nightmare tarmac delay story’ that happened to him many years ago on a hot plane.
“I expressed that we have a passenger with a medical issue that’s going on,” said Tajer. "'We’ll do our best.’ I said: Your best is to tell me to taxi to a gate now or I will declare an emergency and then I’ll be able to get there without your permission. That was not a fight against the people telling me no, that was a fight for passengers.”
Asked if he believes this is a ‘reckoning’ for American, Tajer says “It sure should be. Someone should be held accountable.”
American Airlines released a statement to NBC 5 saying:
American always strives to deliver a positive travel experience to our customers and takes very seriously our responsibility to comply with all Department of Transportation requirements. While these delays were the result of exceptional weather events, the flights represent a very small number of the 7.7 million flights during this time period. We have since apologized to the impacted customers and regret any inconvenience caused.
American has committed substantial time and resources to improve its performance on tarmac delays, such as the deployment of Hub Efficiency Analytics Tool (HEAT) to shift arrivals and departures around severe weather to help avoid conditions that can lead to lengthy tarmac delays. We also built new smart gating technology that reduces taxiway congestion and the time aircraft spend waiting for available gates. The tool uses real-time routing, runway information and other data, along with machine learning, to automatically assign aircraft to the nearest available gate. These efforts are already providing significant benefits to our customers and team members, and we continue to look for innovative ways to further improve.
When asked if weather is really the reason for the delays, Tajer responded: “I’m sure Mother Nature is just about had enough of this. Weather is a catalyst for these events, but how you react to them and how well prepared you are, that’s on you.”
Of the $4.1 million fine, the DOT says $2.02 million will be credited to the airline for compensation provided to passengers on the affected flights.
