Posted by: Liberty
Category: Government Incompetence
Tags: Air Traffic Control, Airlines, FAA, Fines, Flight Cancelations
Airlines Canceling Flights to Avoid Fines
It seems that once again, government regulation is making things worse for consumers and businesses. A new regulation on airlines is about to kick in this April. It involves a hefty fine if passengers are stuck inside a plane for more than 3 hours without taking off. To avoid this fine, airlines will be canceling flights if there is any chance of a delay. From USA today,
The government announced in December it would fine airlines $27,500 per passenger for long tarmac delays — or $2.75 million for a 100-passenger flight.
Cancellations cost far less than a huge fine, especially since seats are routinely prepaid and airlines save fuel cost.
“You’re not going to get penalized for tarmac delays if you don’t fly the flight,” said Massachusetts Institute of Technology professor John Hansman, an aviation expert.
$27,500 per passenger is an extreme amount of money, especially when you realize that many jets hold 180 or more passengers. Airlines are in business to make money, not pay fines to the government. With fines this large, airlines will be forced to cancel delayed flights just to stay in business. According to the same USA Today article, JetBlue
