Dept. of Transportation grows teeth, fines airlines for trapping passengers

If you travel to a cruise, you need to fly. If you fly, odds are good you've been inconvenienced by an airline. And the odds just went up a bit that when the airline really steps out of bounds, they'll have to pay.

You undoubtedly recall one or more of the several episodes of truly bad airline behavior, stranding passengers for hours on the tarmac trapped in stinky planes, sometimes within easy walking distance of a terminal. The Department of Transportation, for the first time, handed down substantial penalties of $175,000 to the airlines involved in one incident--Continental, Continental partner ExpressJet, and Delta partner Mesaba Airlines.

ExpressJet operated a Continental flight on August 8 that was diverted due to bad weather to Rochester NY. There it sat on the tarmac for almost six hours with its passengers unable to escape due in part to the non-cooperation of Mesaba, who was manning the airport terminal at that time of night.

The flight's captain does come out of the story smelling good, so to speak, having repeatedly pleaded for relief for the aircraft's passengers.

We all hope that this marks the beginning of a trend of the DOT smacking down airlines for bad behavior, as the airlines have proven time and again of doing the right things when left on their own.

"I hope that this sends a signal to the rest of the airline industry that we expect airlines to respect the rights of air travelers," said Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood. We hope so too!