"Ask the Pilot" on long tarmac delays...again

Patrick Smith's "Ask the Pilot" is a regular feature of Salon.com, and Smith is one of the most rational voices discussing modern air travel in the business. His column from yesterday addresses the recent diversion and five-hour tarmac delay of an Airbus A340 operated by Virgin ATlantic:

Why, then, was a Virgin Atlantic Airbus A340 stuck on a sweltering apron at Bradley International Airport in Connecticut for nearly five hours on Tuesday evening? The flight, from London-Heathrow to Newark's Liberty International, diverted into Bradley after thunderstorms clogged the arrivals paths into Newark.

It happened because the federal time limit does not apply to foreign-registered aircraft.

Expect a push to have this loophole closed.

According to press reports, the four hours that the plane was delayed in Hartford were a totally horrid experience for the passengers, but Smith tells a story from his personal experience of how what is reported in the press is often far, far, far from the truth.

When a flight is delayed, people are annoyed. When they miss connections, they go from annoyed to pissed. When a flight is diverted from its original destination for any reason, it's a recipe for lots of pissed off people. Toss in the added issue of several hundred people who have already been cooped up in a plane for 6+ hours and you have a recipe for unhappiness that a reporter will easily pick up upon and run with when given the opportunity. Just a few weeks ago, a Southwest Airlines flight I was on from DAL (Love Field) to MSY was unable to park at a gate after landing. Thunderstorms in Houston and Dallas had put just about everything into a ground stop. We were 30 minutes delayed in parking at a gate, and I was bordering on homicidal after 15 of those (mainly because of a child kicking my seat). Can you imagine what four hours of confinement does to some folks? Ah, embellishment.

Smith's analysis of the incident and his conclusion are why you should add his column to your blog reader:

What I'm sensing here is that the airline, the airport and our illustrious U.S. Customs and Border Protection team each had a role to play. And each, to some extent, dropped the ball. While it's easy to throw the blame entirely on Virgin Atlantic, things are never as clear-cut as they look from afar -- and probably aren't as lurid as the press describes them.

That's no industry apologist, but a clear head discussing air travel.