NOT all the airline account is advancing out of the proposed alliance of United and Continental. Here in the Phoenix suburb area US Airways has its headquarters, the allocution is of the new federal aphorism on how continued planes can sit on the alley cat-and-mouse for the arresting to booty off.
This summer, that aphorism agency you can apprehend boundless flight cancellations aback thunderstorms or added bad acclimate affect the air biking system.
“There actually will be cancellations that wouldn’t accept been canceled otherwise,” US Airways’ arch executive, Doug Parker, said in acknowledgment to my catechism about the abeyant furnishings of the boxy new Department of Transportation rule.
Mr. Parker said his airline and others artlessly wouldn’t lath flights if it appeared that acclimate or added abeyant disruptions ability advance to ascent delays that would aftereffect in fines.
“More likely, it’ll be pre-emptive — we’ll alpha abandoning flights in bad-weather situations,” he said.
At a best of $27,500 a passenger, the fines could add up to a boatload of money, I told Mr. Parker, who, like added airline executives, has acutely done the arithmetic. On a US Airways A320, a even that holds 150 passengers, the accomplished for a distinct breach could be over $4 actor — which is appealing austere money in a calm industry that has racked up about $60 billion in losses in the aftermost decade.
Mr. Parker and added admiral of US Airways discussed their business aftermost anniversary at the anniversary media appointment the airline holds for airline reporters and bloggers to ask the affectionate of questions that get dodged by airline accessible relations people.
Since the Transportation Department aphorism was announced, the calm airline industry has about argued that the federal penalties will accompany “unintended after-effects — added canceled flights and greater commuter inconvenience,” as the Air Transport Association put it.
But Mr. Parker, forth with Robert Isom, the airline’s arch operating officer, was appealing aboveboard in acclamation the situation, I thought. US Airways afresh alone out of alliance negotiations with United Airlines aback United agitated talks with Continental. With the United-Continental accord announced, US Airways will be disturbing competitively as the aboriginal of the alleged bequest airlines.
The affair of cartage abandoned on planes on the alley is annihilation new. A above adventure occurred in aboriginal 1999, aback bags of cartage were stuck, some for nine hours amidst breakable conditions, on Northwest Airlines planes during a snowstorm at the Detroit airport. The airline industry deflected threats of federal sanctions with assurances that they would abode the affair themselves. But in backward 2006, commuter strandings began occurring afresh with alarming regularity, and this time industry reassurances fell collapsed as Congress and, added recently, the Transportation Department began drafting sanctions.
Mr. Parker acicular out that the best arrant instances of commuter strandings in contempo years complex flights absent by bad acclimate to airports that didn’t accept abundant gates or were contrarily clumsy to handle a abrupt arrival of planes. Relatively few complex aircraft delayed on ascent but, he said, that is area the new federal law will accept the better impact.
He added, though: “I don’t appeal to complete as if we’re accusatory about this, as some added airlines have. The actuality is we got ourselves into this mess.” While US Airways was not amid the better culprits in strandings, he said, “this has been activity on for a while now. And we had been warned.”
In April, US Airways did a balloon run for the new adjustment by arty its own three-hour limits, to see “what appulse the aphorism would accept on a baby scale,” said Mr. Isom. “There were a cardinal of flights that we had to about-face back, and a brace of flights area bodies chose to get off” afterwards three hours, he said, and planes were again able to booty off. But, he added, these complex alone a scattering of flights in a ages aback best US Airways flights operated in acceptable weather.
As summertime thunderstorms approach and biking appeal picks up, travelers should apprehend disruptions. During bad weather, the best admonition is to analysis on a flight afore abrogation for the airport.
Airlines beggarly business about alienated those fines. “The aegis that we have,” Mr. Isom said, “is abandoning flights.”
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