Travelers stuck on the tarmac for hours at Logan Airport
By Mike Sullivan, WBZ-TV
BOSTON -- Imagine sitting on a plane for seven hours on the tarmac. It's nightmare fuel for passengers, and the reality for hundreds of travelers at Logan Airport.
"It is now 1:00 am, and we have still not got our bags," said Dan Parlato who traveled to Boston from Indianapolis.
The delays began during Sunday's snowstorm with some passengers saying they couldn't get out until Monday afternoon. Delta Air Lines blames the weather and de-icing issues for the lengthy delays.
The US Department of Transportation requires airlines to take people off of a plane if it is stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours for a domestic flight. There are exceptions for safety, security, or air traffic control issues.
Rachel Harris spent seven hours on her plane. She says de-icing was only part of the issue.
"We were originally delayed because the lavatories were both clogged, so we needed to wait on crews to come and flush them," said Harris. "We had one bag of almonds about 2.5-3 hours into waiting."
Her flight was delayed 18.5 hours. Harris says she took a $100 Uber ride home at 2 am because the airline was out of hotel vouchers and cots to sleep on.
"We are literally taxiing to the runway, and the next flight to take off, then the pilot comes on the intercom saying the weather has changed in Chicago. We have to change to our backup airport, but we don't have enough fuel to get there, and don't have our reserve fuel," explained Harris. "We already refueled once."
Harris said Delta offered her 7,500 airline miles as compensation. She says that amounts to about $100.
"Out of the nearly 200 people on this flight, 150 cancelled, so now our flight has 24 people on it," added Harris, talking to WBZ from the airport terminal.
