Good morning all. Today has started out as a very busy day here in the office. I am feeling sort of happy that I am not traveling over the next week. I hope to be able to take some vacation days and spend them at home next week.

Thoughts on the new DoT 3 hour rule? I'm still not convinced it is a good thing for pax.

Wirelessly posted (BlackBerry8830/4.5.0.138 Profile/MIDP-2.0 Configuration/CLDC-1.1 VendorID/105)

Uhh, something you know about that we don't?

Probably not a good thing for people who actually understand the penalty of returning to the gate, but for ma and pa it's great.

The real issue is the ATC issues that they need to address. Just because there is snow in upstate NY doesn't mean that NYC needs to go into flow-control. :rolleyes:

For departures, it sounds like they've created a loophole whereby airlines can simply state that ground/ramp control had no gate space available, thus the aircraft had to remain on the tarmac. The two hour rule portion also fails to address the vast majority of aircraft that will have little or no meaningful food on board, especially on arrival, so that part feels a little toothless to me.

The whole reason for this mess at departure is that ATC slot control varies widely and flight crews know that if they lose their position, they could be delayed even longer which may cause crew timeouts and other problems.

The overriding issue is an antiquated ATC system that cannot handle the volume at the nation's busiest airports. Updating ATC to current technology would be horrifically expensive but solve a bunch of issues.

So yeah, I'm not convinced this is the God-send, "Passenger Bill of Rights™" that everyone has been hoping for.

Pretty much sums it up for me. A three hour delay to me sitting on a plane is much preferable to an overnight delay because we had to return to the gate.

Pam ANN in NYC
 

I found out that Pam Ann will be doing three shows at Joe's Pub in NYC next week. Would anyone in the Box be interested in her NYE Show and/or sharing expense as far as hotel?

If my sister hadn't of claimed our apartment over NYE I would have offered it to you. We will be in MAD.

Dot 3 hour rule
 

It makes the government look like its trying to help the passengers. Whether it actually helps everyone is besides the point .

I would much rather be with my wife who is looking at houses right now instead of at work getting the occasional play by play. :rolleyes:

Isn't that government summed up in a nutshell? Make it look like we're doing something to help, but it might be a boondoggle after all...

http://boardingarea.com/blogs/thewan...a-3-hour-rule/

They published in the Federal Register today. It goes into effect in 120 days.

I actually think there are some really good provisions in there. Requiring the airlines to publicize when they have flights which are chronically delayed or canceled is a good thing. So is the fact that the DoT will require "substantive" replies to customer complaints within a specific timeframe.

I hope that the airlines and ATC manage to leverage the "significantly disrupt airport operations" clause to not screw customers when the time comes.

I'll be in MAD, too, but have an open apartment if you need. I have another buddy there Monday and Tuesday but it is open after that. Let me know.

Cocktails with my grandmother starting at 1430. Remind me agin why I don't come here more often...

(This is a buzzed post.)

I think ACY needs to do any marketing much less anything above marketing 101 to get the place moving.