Expert: Roberto Gomes - 7/1/2007

Question
Recently there have been several news stories about airline passengers being held on a plane for many hours, even 8 to 10 hours without the plane taking off. The reasons given were varied, but they resulted in very angry passengers.
My question is, after a "reasonable" delay, say 2 or 3 hours, why don't they let the passengers off the plane to go to the relative comfort of the terminal? One excuse I heard in one case was that the gate was now occupied. But many times I have disembarked on the tarmac. Why can't they or won't they let the passengers out of the plane? Are there problems with this that I cannot imagine?

Answer
Dear Frank,

The main reason why airlines decide to hold, lies on the fact that once an aircraft returns to the gate (if any available) or disembark its passengers, this flight will need a new flight plan and therefore a new clearance.

Major airlines have different policies for handling planes delayed on runways for long periods of time. Despite any time limits they may set, however, there are certain airports where once an aircraft does get in line (to take off), it cannot get out of line.

Below is a sampling of policies that I was able to research:

•American. Will not allow passengers to remain on planes for more than four hours.

•AirTran. On a case-by-case basis. The airline watches boarded planes awaiting takeoff as early as the 15-minute mark; after 60 minutes, the airline's CEO is notified.

•Continental. On a case-by-case basis. By the two-hour mark, the flight crew and dispatch center will have come up with a plan and informed passengers.

•Delta. On a case-by-case basis.

•Northwest. For departing flights, if the delay before takeoff reaches three hours, the aircraft is to be brought back to the gate. For arriving flights, if the delay for a gate is more than one hour, the aircraft is moved to the head of the list of planes waiting for a gate. Also, flight captains have the authority to determine if the delay for departure has become excessive, even if it's less than three hours.

•Southwest. The goal is to limit wait time to no more than two hours. For unusually long delays, Southwest tries to keep the passengers informed while they are onboard and sends them a written apology and explanation within 72 hours.

•United. On a case-by-case basis.

•US Airways. On a case-by-case basis. After 15 minutes, the airline begins announcing to passengers the reason for the delay, and repeats those announcements every 15 minutes. At about two hours, the airline begins assessing the feasibility of returning to the gate.

Hope it helped.
Best Regards,
R. Gomes