Yesterday some unnamed federal task force in charge of being stuck on a runway, showed a very, very large middle finger to the airline passengers, by approving voluntary guidelines for airlines and airports dealing with passengers kept hostage in airplanes stranded for hours on the tarmacs and runways of the United States. In other words, the airlines and airports can do whatever they please in such situations, which probably means nothing at all except threatening “unruly passengers" (i.e. anyone who objects to such inhumane treatment) with TSA, FBI, CIA, NSA and eternal damnation.
Here are the recommendations in a nutshell (as reported by the New York Times.) Laugh if you must, I fly way too often to find it amusing…
· Airlines update passengers delayed on tarmacs every 15 minutes even if there is nothing new to report.
· A secure room be provided for passengers from diverted overseas flights so they can avoid having to go through security checks when re-boarding an aircraft to their final destination.
· When practical, refreshments and entertainment should be made available to passengers confined aboard aircraft awaiting takeoff.
· Airlines should make reasonable efforts to keep airplane restrooms usable.
Predictably, the Air Transport Association, the trade association for the airline industry, has lauded this entire BS as success…
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