American Airlines Receives Highest-on-Record Fine Over Tarmac Delays

Mindy Cohn

American Airlines received a $4.1 million fine, the largest ever charged for violating the Department of Transportation's delay rules after keeping thousands of customers stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours without allowing them to deplane.

According to United States law, an airline cannot keep domestic travel passengers on the tarmac for more than three hours. Yet, between 2018 and 2021, more than 5,800 American Airlines passengers were stuck on one of the forty-three domestic American flights that sat on a tarmac for more than three hours. Additionally, the airline must provide passengers with water and snacks within two hours from when the delay begins, which was not done in at least one instance of a delayed American Airlines flight. Airlines can be fined up to $27,500 for each passenger on board a flight that violates the rules.

American Airlines' repeat actions resulted in the $4.1 million fine, the largest fine ever given to an airline for violating the tarmac rules. The airline will only have to pay half, though, as it was given credit by the DOT for the compensation it previously provided passengers who had been stuck on board the heavily delayed flights.