For calendar year 2014, US airlines reported the lowest number of tarmac delays longer than three hours on record. According to the US Department of Transportation’s Air Travel Consumer Report, there were 30 domestic flights with tarmac delays longer than three hours and nine international flights with tarmac delays longer than four hours at US airports. There were no long domestic or international tarmac delays in December 2014.
The Department’s rule prohibiting U.S. carriers operating domestic flights from allowing tarmac delays longer than three hours without giving passengers an opportunity to deplane went into effect in April 2010.
In addition, the nation’s largest airlines canceled 1.4% of their scheduled domestic flights in December, half of the 2.9% cancellation rate posted in December 2013, but up from the 0.9% rate in November 2014.