More from Schmidt on airplane delays

Schmidt's latest column is all about her recent probe into airplane delays. Since it's not posted on her Web site yet, we're posting it here. As always, tell us what you think.

Washington, DC - At one time or another, most of us have experienced delays or other inconveniences as we've traveled on our nation's airlines. Whether it's a long line at security, a lost piece of luggage, or a weather delay, we've come to expect - and accept - these situations as part of our travels. But what is not acceptable is when these commonplace delays turn into lengthy ordeals for travelers. We've all heard the horror stories about passengers being stranded on planes for hours at a time without food, water, or access to restroom facilities.

Take the situations that recently happened in Austin and New York City. Dozens of planes loaded with passengers were kept in their seats for hours, and some passengers were trapped for nearly 10 hours. The stranded passengers reported that conditions were "subhuman" with no food, overflowing toilets, and no information. We ask how this can be allowed to happen, when in most cases help is just a short taxi back to the airport terminal.

Many flights are briefly delayed for valid reasons like bad weather or problems with air traffic control, but what causes passengers to be trapped in planes for hours at a time is what I want to understand - and hopefully, address in Congress.

I decided to investigate this matter and get some answers about this situation, and others like it, because I want to learn how prevalent these events are, and under what conditions they occur. I have also begun meeting with the major airlines to try to gain an understanding of how and why this continues to happen.

Some of my initial research found that, according to the Bureau of Transportation Statistics (BTS), in the last year alone, passengers on more than 7,600 flights were forced to sit in their seats for more than two hours.

But these numbers don't tell the whole story. My office will randomly select 100 flights from the BTS list of flights that experienced taxi-out delays of more than two hours, and ask the airlines to explain why the flights were delayed. By working with all of the involved parties, I hope to get to the root cause of these horror stories.

Some of the passengers stranded on that flight for nearly 10 hours in Austin are making the news with a proposed "Airline Passenger Bill of Rights" that they are hoping Congress will enact. I admire these folks for taking action and doing something about this problem, but we need to know more about what is causing these delays before Congress can act. Passing more laws may be a short-term fix, and not offer a long-term solution to the root cause.

It is my hope to determine the cause of these delays as soon as possible. I think we need to look closely at our antiquated air traffic control infrastructure, most of which has not been updated since the 1950s. The FAA reauthorization bill is slated to come before Congress this year presenting us with an opportunity to bring this issue to light.

As a member of the House Transportation and Infrastructure Committee, I am looking forward to working very closely with my colleagues to examine our current air traffic control system and identify key areas where we can make improvements. The research I am gathering now from the airlines will no doubt help in this discussion.

One thing is for certain, we simply cannot allow our nation's airliners to trap people inside planes for hours at a time. It is unacceptable and the time to act is now. I look forward to rolling up my sleeves and getting to work on this important issue. If you, or someone you know, has a personal account to share, please email us at
JeanSchmidt@mail.house.gov or submit written statements by fax at 202.225.1992.