Thanks, ‘Tarmac Task Force,’ for Nothing

Travel Blog  •  Valerie Conners  •  11.12.08 | 3:39 PM ET

imagePhoto by viZZZual.com via Flickr (Creative Commons).

It’s taken a government task force nearly a year of negotiating to determine that, well, little will change for unlucky passengers stranded for hours on grounded flights. Passenger rights advocates describe the task force’s voluntary guidelines as “business as usual,” as they allow airline members to create their own response plans, and set no time limit on how long passengers stuck on the tarmac can stay confined before being allowed to exit the plane. 

Tags: Airports, Airworld, News and Briefs

Valerie Conners

Valerie Conners is the senior producer and editor at World Hum.


2 Comments for Thanks, ‘Tarmac Task Force,’ for Nothing

Jack from eyeflare.com 11.13.08 | 9:29 AM ET

I’ve always found it amazing that the airlines can get away with effectively locking people up and throwing the key (almost) away.

While I’m not claustrophobic, I do tend to get antsy if I can’t just get up and leave. So far, I’ve not had the displeasure to be stuck on tarmac, but I’d like to know what my options are to get off that plane should it happen?

Ling 11.13.08 | 10:50 AM ET

That’s a good one. Article says if they follow the recommendations, passengers will be stranded even more. So either the airlines are making this stuff up, or the Tarmac task force was smoking pot when they wrote up the report.

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