Comments on: Feds punish tarmac delays, airlines cancel flights instead

By: Brian, follower of Deornoth

Brian, follower of Deornoth — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 10:25:09 +0000

“Are consumers as a group better off?”

Of course they are. The government in its wisdom has decided that it is better for your flight to be cancelled than be severely delayed, and we all know that the government knows better than you do what is good for you.

By: MF

MF — Thu, 18 Feb 2010 00:51:49 +0000

Bottom line is that it’s absurd for the government to be involved in punishing the airlines. Let the market decide which carriers act responsibly and which ones don’t.

By: E-Bell

E-Bell — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:43:26 +0000

Whoops, I meant to address my comment to L Nettles, not SmartDude.

By: E-Bell

E-Bell — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:42:23 +0000

Me too, SmartDude. I’d rather know my flight’s canceled than sit on the tarmac for 6 hours before finding out it’s canceled anyway.

I got caught up in the US Air Christmas Eve “sick-out” a few years ago and we boarded the plane, sat on the tarmac for a couple of hours, then got taxi’d back to the terminal where we waited for a couple more hours to figure out exactly what was going on. I could’ve used that time to find alternative arrangements.

By: L Nettles

L Nettles — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 21:09:18 +0000

I vote for better off, canceled rather than trapped.

By: SmartDude

SmartDude — Wed, 17 Feb 2010 18:18:31 +0000

An unmitigated disaster for those passengers who want a flight, even if delayed.