Late-night stranded flight points up flaw in U.S. airline consumer protection

U.S. government officials have now stated that Continental Express flight 2816's passengers who were stranded overnight on an airport tarmac in Rochester, Minnesota, should have been allowed into the Rochester airport by officials at Mesaba Airlines, another regional carrier, even though Mesaba is not officially responsible for those passengers.

Department of Transportation Secretary Ray LaHood said a preliminary government investigation found that the captain of the Continental Express flight repeatedly pleaded to allow the passengers to at least temporarily deplane and enter the Rochester terminal during the Aug. 8 incident.

They were turned down by representatives of Mesaba Airlines, who incorrectly claimed that the passengers could not be allowed inside because government security personnel had gone off duty for the day, LaHood said. Instead, DOT said, passengers could have stayed in a separate "sterile" area.

Mesaba was the only airline with staff still at the airport during the incident earlier this month.

The plane departed Continental Airline's hub at Houston Intercontinental Airport the night of Aug. 7, but was diverted by thunderstorms to Rochester. Passengers were forced to remain inside the tiny one-aisle regional jet for six hours amid wailing babies and a clogged toilet even though they were only 50 yards from the airport terminal. They were eventually allowed to get off the airplane for about two and a half hours after security personnel came back on duty.

"There was a complete lack of common sense here," the secretary added. "It's no wonder the flying public is so angry and frustrated."

And now some in Congress are calling for either new legislation or new rules to force airlines who are the only tenants in an airport to accommodate another airline's passengers in the event of emergencies such as weather diversions. It might be that this incident is the last straw that forces airlines to consider some minor additional form of re-regulation in order to ensure that airline competition survives.

- by Jim Brown , Reporter for HelloFlight.com  (Click to leave a message)