ATLANTA — Five flights in May experienced tarmac delays of three hours or more, the U.S. Department of Transportation reported.
The delays came during the first month of new rules that stipulate airlines can only keep passengers waiting on the tarmac for three hours before it would be required to let them disembark.
Four of the five flights were operated by United Airlines, according to The Associated Press. The fifth flight was a Delta Airlines flight.
All were blamed on weather, the newswire reported. The feds did not immediately say whether it would levy fines.
Under the new rules, airlines within two hours must provide passengers with “adequate” food and water and they must also “maintain operable lavatories,” the DOT said.
The three-hour limit only applies to domestic flights and it does provide for some exceptions, including safety or security and if returning to the terminal would disrupt airport operations. Domestic airlines that operate international flights to or from the United States “must specify, in advance, their own time limits for deplaning passengers, with the same exceptions applicable,” the DOT previously said.
The new rule also includes a number of other requirements, including a requirement that airlines display on their Web site information about flight delays for each domestic flight they operate.
DOT data also showed that .067 percent of their scheduled flights had tarmac delays of two hours or more.