June saw longer delays on tarmac
Bad weather led to long delays in May and June. Credit: Newsday
More than a dozen planes sat on the tarmac for more than three hours in June, the government said Tuesday.
It's the second month in a row that the number of three-hour delays reached double digits since a government rule went into effect over a year ago aimed at limiting them.
The Department of Transportation said 14 planes were stuck on the tarmac for more than three hours in June. There were 16 such delays in May, but only 20 in the full year before that.
So far, the DOT hasn't fined an airline for violating the rule, because it says none of the delays was serious enough to justify the big penalties. Nearly all of them were caused by bad weather.
June is one of the busiest travel months of the year and it's also peak thunderstorm season. Flights overall during the month were on time more often than a year ago. A flight is considered late if it pulls up to the gate more than 15 minutes behind schedule.
