The Transportation Department has assessed a $100,000 civil penalty on Caribbean Airways of Trinidad for a long tarmac delay that occurred last Aug. 15 when a summer storm disrupted operations at New York’s Kennedy Airport.
According to a DOT consent order, the carrier’s 2:55 p.m. departure for Trinidad pushed back from the gate at 3:07 but didn’t get airborne until about 10:00 p.m., some seven hours later. There were 154 passengers aboard.
Under the DOT’s tarmac-delay rules for foreign carriers, food and water must be available when a tarmac delay exceeds two hours, and passengers muse be given the opportunity to leave the aircraft at four hours.
In the case of the Caribbean flight, passengers didn’t get an opportunity to leave the aircraft until four hours and 28 minutes had elapsed and the crew didn’t provide food after four hours had elapsed. The airline said water was always available.
In mitigation, the carrier said it was a victim of circumstances beyond its control, because the weather closed the airport and led to heavy traffic on the ramp areas and a lack of gate space.
The carrier said the aircraft twice refueled during the long wait, and its first effort to deplane passengers was delayed because the staircase provided by the airport was for the wrong aircraft type.
The DOT assessed a $100,000 civil penalty liability but agreed to waive half that amount if the carrier refrains from similar violations for one year.