Jet Blue, Delta Ask For A Reprieve From The Three Hour Limit

With the main runway at JFK International Airport (KJFK) in New York closed for repairs, a couple of airlines are asking that DOT grant waivers at JFK on the three-hour tarmac delay limit set to go into effect April 29.

CNN reports that Delta and Jet Blue have preemptively cut the number of flights by 10 percent each in an effort to ease congestion at the airport, already one of the most notorious for delays at peak hours. But airport officials said when they closed the runway for the construction project that it would likely cause longer delays. The Bay Runway is not scheduled to reopen until November. And with a $27,500 per passenger fine hanging in the balance for a tarmac delay of more than three hours, the airlines are looking for relief from a situation they say is out of their hands.

"Due to the unforeseen nature and unpredictable operating environment this closure could potentially create, the DOT three-hour rule could have unintended consequences and result in harming consumers rather than protecting their interests," JetBlue said in a statement. Spokesman Mateo Lleras said that if a ground stop were put on a flight due to weather, it could force the airlines to return passengers to the gates by the thousands, and that could result in cancelled flights. He said the rule could wind up hurting consumers rather than protecting them.

But Kate Hanni, the founder of FlyersRights.org, says that waivers should not be granted because of the construction at JFK. "Rather than forcing consumers to change their plans by imposing multi-hour delays on them due to some construction at JFK, the commercial airlines should change their operations and scheduling to adjust to temporarily lessened airport capacity," Hanni said in a news release. "The construction at JFK has been in the works for some time -- and improvement projects are a natural fact of life at major airports -- we expect the DOT to enforce the 3 hour rule at JFK and for all airlines to fully comply with it."

FlyersRights.org says it has long recommended that FAA and the airlines work with airports to ensure that long anticipated projects, like those to take place at JFK do not cause severe or chronic delays for travelers. The three hour time period, which was discussed and debated widely among experts, stakeholders and regulators, was selected after taking factors such as improvement projects, weather and other causes of delays into account.

FMI: www.delta.com, www.jetblue.com, www.flyersrights.org, www.panynj.gov/airports/jfk.html