Caribbean Airlines fined for extensive delay

The US Department of Transportation has fined Caribbean Airlines for a long tarmac delay in New York over the summer.

Travel Insurance News - 04/04/2013

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The US Department of Transportation has fined Caribbean Airlines for a long tarmac delay in New York over the summer.

Reports said on Wednesday that the Trinidad-based airline will have to pay $100,000 (£66,379) for the incident on 15 August, in which a Caribbean Airlines flight sat on the tarmac at JFK airport for nearly seven hours due to severe weather. However, DOT officials said that the fine would be halved should the airline avoid repeating such an incident within the next year.

The plane was scheduled to leave at 2:55pm and did not depart New York until about 10:00pm, officials said.

Under US regulations, passengers delayed for more than four hours must be given the opportunity to leave the aircraft and those delayed for at least two hours must be provided with water and food. The agency alleges that the airline failed to comply and only allowed the 158 travellers on board to leave the plane after nearly four and a half hours.

Meanwhile, Caribbean Airlines officials have said that the carrier’s efforts to allow passengers to deplane were set back when airport personnel brought the wrong size staircase for the aircraft used for the flight.

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