Up, Up and Away Goes American Airlines Promise Not to Leave Passengers Stranded on Tarmac Says CAPBOR

NAPA, Calif., March 10 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- "We weren't able to physically move aircraft." That's the explanation hundreds of angry passengers got from American Airlines a day after the carrier stranded 17 flights on the tarmac at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport (DFW) on Thursday, March 6th.

"They knew we weren't going anywhere," said Linda Plank, one of the stranded passengers. "We got peanuts. We'd been on the plane for about four hours and 45 minutes and we finally got peanuts?" According to Chad Randolph who sat on the tarmac on Flight #3797 for 7 hours, "They made us pay for the water and the peanuts."

In January 2006, following a mass stranding of over 121 flights on December 29th 2006, parent company AMR announced a "rule" that no aircraft would ever again be stranded on a tarmac for over four hours. Kate Hanni, CAPBOR founder and spokesperson, said "Once again, the airlines themselves prove the point that voluntary plans, with no oversight, such as those favored by the Department of Transportation, are a recipe for disaster. American's 'four hour rule' is nothing more than a PR strategy designed to fool the public and convince the government that mandatory guidelines are unnecessary."

According to CAPBOR records, the incident last Thursday was at least the 16th individual incident involving over 70 four hour-plus strandings since the 4 hour "rule" was announced. "DFW is a terrific airport. Why not get passengers back into the terminal and let them take advantage of the amenities there instead of sitting on a cramped airplane for six hours?" Hanni asked.

Stranded passengers may receive a travel voucher valued up to $500 - but they'll have to fly American Airlines to use it. American Airlines told a Dallas television news station that it would reassess what went right and what went wrong, but that no one in the company would face disciplinary action. "Flying used to be like a good date, now it's like a recurring nightmare." said Hanni.

The Coalition for an Airline Passengers Bill of Rights (CAPBOR) is the largest non-profit consumer group for airline passengers in the U.S. with 21,600 members since being established February 10th, 2007. For information email kate@flyersrights.com or go to www.flyersrights.org. The 24/7 hotline: 1-877-FLYERS6.