Originally Posted by
JamesNoBrakes
If they are jeapordizing health and safety and had reasonable alternatives (go to provisional airport and deal with the situation rather than hold for 2hrs with hope that wx might improve at the regular), then yes. There would probably need to be some other factors, but bottom line is that keeping people locked up in an airplane on the ground for hours on end is wrong. If this happens, the airlines should be prepared to deal with it, and not by just keeping them locked up. If they are not, then they are over-extended in terms of their abilities, infrastructure and service to the public, and they should not be offering so many flights in the first place. Maybe after a few of them go out of business then there won't be so much traffic? If you're going to complain that it's the FAA that needs to make more capacity, then please tell me how much you're donating to the cause.
To say that "we can't control the FAA, traffic, or weather" is a cop-out. Everyone knows you can't control those things, but if you are offering a service you better have the means to back it up when things do go wrong, rather than just saying "oh well, there's nothing we can do".
There are obvious health and safety issues with keeping people on a plane on the ground.
Health and safety issues are one thing, but assuming no one is a diabetic who packed their medication in their checked bags, you want us to just divert at the first sign of trouble?
So if given the chance to hold for a couple of hours or diverting to an airport where I may not be able to get the pax off the aircraft, I should take the diversion? Also, if I hold, I may be able to get the pax to their destination rather than putting them in some crappy outstation, you say I should opt for the outstation?
In my tiny little world, holding two hours may mean I get the pax to a hub. Diverting could mean I put them in an outstation that is 100 miles from the hub, but the way ATC works, could mean an additional several hours waiting for a departure clearance (the mainline would rather use a slot for a 73 than a Saab). Do you like the idea of overnighting it Armpit, Arkansas and losing a day off your trip rather than taking a hold?
So, oh wise one, you tell me what I am supposed to do.